Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.75.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stephens reduced their target price on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 31st.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $42.01 on Wednesday. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $31.02 and a 12 month high of $49.65. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $308.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $355.51 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 26.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total transaction of $464,757.55. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,421,996.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $158,166.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,285 shares in the company, valued at $1,534,897.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total transaction of $464,757.55. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,421,996.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,225 shares of company stock valued at $1,634,014 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,846,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,143,000. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth about $22,744,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 15.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,567,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,218,000 after purchasing an additional 596,516 shares during the period. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 183.1% during the second quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 442,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,616,000 after purchasing an additional 286,206 shares during the period. 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.