Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives $62.56 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment 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 target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.56.

HWC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. 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. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $51.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.21 and a 200-day moving average of $55.28. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $41.56 and a 12 month high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.09%.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,097,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,539,000 after acquiring an additional 181,706 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,917,000 after purchasing an additional 73,316 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,016,000 after purchasing an additional 30,239 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,898,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,557,000 after buying an additional 12,172 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,300,000 after buying an additional 193,028 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

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.