Brokers Issue Forecasts for Hancock Whitney FY2024 Earnings

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) - Investment analysts at DA Davidson raised their FY2024 EPS estimates for Hancock Whitney in a report released on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner now expects that the company will earn $5.24 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $5.16. DA Davidson currently has a "Buy" rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Hancock Whitney's current full-year earnings is $5.14 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Hancock Whitney's FY2025 earnings at $5.26 EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on HWC. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Hovde Group lifted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.89.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC traded down $1.22 on Monday, reaching $50.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 532,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 503,628. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.72. Hancock Whitney has a 52-week low of $32.16 and a 52-week high of $57.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 1.26.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $525.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 11.51%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,226,780 shares of the company's stock valued at $424,801,000 after acquiring an additional 34,152 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,197,000 after purchasing an additional 167,304 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,113 shares of the company's stock worth $67,015,000 after purchasing an additional 237,526 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,069,223 shares of the company's stock worth $51,141,000 after buying an additional 252,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 780,882 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,350,000 after buying an additional 135,076 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frank E. Bertucci sold 2,053 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $117,082.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,286,254.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.30%.

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.