FY2024 EPS Estimates for Hancock Whitney Lowered by Analyst

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) – Analysts at Zacks Research decreased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Hancock Whitney in a research note issued on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the company will earn $5.17 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $5.18. The consensus estimate for Hancock Whitney’s current full-year earnings is $5.19 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Hancock Whitney’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.25 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.21 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.35 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.38 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.31 EPS.

HWC has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.63.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $55.63 on Thursday. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $41.19 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.99.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. The company had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 EPS.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 35.87%.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 54,380 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,669. The trade was a 13.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,197,000 after purchasing an additional 167,304 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,917,000 after buying an additional 73,316 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,016,000 after acquiring an additional 30,239 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 20.4% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,154,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,093,000 after buying an additional 46,622 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

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.