Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock Has Average Target Price of $84.56

Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.56.

Several brokerages have weighed in on HWC. Zacks Research lowered Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stephens cut their price target on Hancock Whitney from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $79.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $73.26 on Thursday. Hancock Whitney has a 52-week low of $55.76 and a 52-week high of $80.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 0.98.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 20.51% and a return on equity of 11.65%. The firm had revenue of $421.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $421.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 40.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total value of $381,236.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,166. This represents a 24.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Emerald Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,085,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 16.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 807,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,354,000 after purchasing an additional 114,029 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 84.7% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 384,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,735,000 after purchasing an additional 176,389 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 139.9% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 47,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 27,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,556,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi, and the parent company of Hancock Whitney Bank. The bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through branches and digital banking channels.

Its products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial lending, residential mortgages, credit cards, treasury and cash management services, and online and mobile banking.