Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) had its price target decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $80.00 to $79.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on HWC. Stephens lowered their price target on Hancock Whitney from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $73.51 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 0.97. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $55.11 and a 1 year high of $80.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 20.51%. The business had revenue of $421.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $421.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total value of $381,236.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,166. This trade represents a 24.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at $814,839,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,790,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,652,000 after buying an additional 21,655 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth $55,605,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter worth $52,973,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter worth $40,112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi, and the parent company of Hancock Whitney Bank. The bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through branches and digital banking channels.

Its products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial lending, residential mortgages, credit cards, treasury and cash management services, and online and mobile banking.