Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the nine research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.63.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HWC shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James upgraded Hancock Whitney from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In other news, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $40,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $810,105. This represents a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of Hancock Whitney 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 sale, the director now owns 23,518 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,563 shares of company stock worth $1,150,661. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Trust Point Inc. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 10.6% in the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 6,005 shares of the company's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 36,137 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ HWC traded up $0.64 on Friday, hitting $59.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 976,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 684,669. 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 has a 52-week low of $41.19 and a 52-week high of $62.40. The firm has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 1.27. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $57.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.36.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $363.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.87%.

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.