Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.78.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frank E. Bertucci sold 2,053 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $117,082.59. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,286,254.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 0.3% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 108,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,981,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 5.7% during the second quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 6,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 2.4% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 21,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $49.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.31. Hancock Whitney has a one year low of $32.16 and a one year high of $57.78. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.26.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.11. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 18.63%. The firm had revenue of $359.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.30%.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation operates as the financial holding company for Hancock Whitney Bank that provides traditional and online banking services to commercial, small business, and retail customers. It offers various transaction and savings deposit products consisting of brokered deposits, time deposits, and money market accounts; treasury management services, secured and unsecured loan products including revolving credit facilities, and letters of credit and similar financial guarantees; and trust and investment management services to retirement plans, corporations, and individuals, and investment advisory and brokerage products.