Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.8571.

HWC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,790,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,652,000 after purchasing an additional 21,655 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 191,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,148,000 after purchasing an additional 22,967 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 482,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,695,000 after purchasing an additional 22,009 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 366,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,288,000 after purchasing an additional 42,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens National Bank Trust Department acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 1st quarter worth $386,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $67.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 0.97. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $52.89 and a 12 month high of $75.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The business’s revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. Analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 6.28 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.07%.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.