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

Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.89.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HWC. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total transaction of $443,049.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 54,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,669. This represents a 13.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 707.2% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,563,000 after buying an additional 504,873 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 213.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,663,000 after purchasing an additional 501,259 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,069,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,141,000 after purchasing an additional 252,473 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 20.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,015,000 after purchasing an additional 237,526 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 149.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,435,000 after purchasing an additional 192,295 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $59.94 on Thursday. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $39.38 and a 12 month high of $62.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $53.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $525.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

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.