Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $84.56

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.56.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $79.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Hancock Whitney from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total transaction of $381,236.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,166. This represents a 24.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HWC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the second quarter worth $814,839,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 0.5% in 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 period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 807,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,354,000 after purchasing an additional 114,029 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the second quarter worth $55,605,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $73.45 on Thursday. Hancock Whitney has a 52 week low of $55.76 and a 52 week high of $80.13. The firm has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.66. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 20.51% and a return on equity of 11.65%. The business had revenue of $421.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $421.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 40.24%.

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.