DA Davidson Forecasts Hancock Whitney Q1 Earnings

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) – Investment analysts at DA Davidson issued their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Hancock Whitney in a note issued to investors on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner forecasts that the company will earn $1.24 per share for the quarter. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Hancock Whitney’s current full-year earnings is $5.16 per share.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS.

HWC has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com downgraded Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $58.97 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.79. Hancock Whitney has a one year low of $41.19 and a one year high of $62.40. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.27.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 10,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 4.8% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 122,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,840,000 after acquiring an additional 5,547 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 213.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,663,000 after acquiring an additional 501,259 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 780,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,350,000 after purchasing an additional 135,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 137,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,554,000 after purchasing an additional 44,344 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In other news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.30%.

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.