Analysts Issue Forecasts for Hancock Whitney FY2024 Earnings

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) - Zacks Research cut their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Hancock Whitney in a report issued on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the company will post earnings of $5.17 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $5.18. The consensus estimate for Hancock Whitney's current full-year earnings is $5.19 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Hancock Whitney's Q4 2024 earnings at $1.25 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.21 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.35 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.38 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.31 EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on HWC. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James upgraded Hancock Whitney from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.63.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ HWC traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $55.63. The company had a trading volume of 446,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 558,211. Hancock Whitney has a 1-year low of $41.19 and a 1-year high of $62.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm's 50 day moving average is $57.12 and its 200-day moving average is $52.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HWC. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 692,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,429,000 after acquiring an additional 55,869 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at about $844,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 66.7% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth about $2,605,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 35.4% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 102,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,884,000 after buying an additional 26,705 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $39,981.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,343.20. This represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

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.