Brokerages Set Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) PT at $79.25

Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.25.

A number of research analysts have commented on HWC shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Benchmark began coverage on Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $74.72 on Friday. Hancock Whitney has a 1-year low of $54.05 and a 1-year high of $75.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $68.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.45. The company has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $393.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.01 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 21.34% and a return on equity of 11.20%. Hancock Whitney’s revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 41.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total value of $28,005.72. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,683,432.56. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 70.9% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 67.6% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.