Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives $60.63 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.63.

Several research firms 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 stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James raised Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $60.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $57.31 and its 200 day moving average is $53.62. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $41.19 and a 12 month high of $62.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 1.27. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,343.20. This represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 692,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,429,000 after acquiring an additional 55,869 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter valued at about $844,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 13,243 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,605,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,227,000 after acquiring an additional 96,092 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.