Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.26 EPS.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC traded up $1.64 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.74. The company had a trading volume of 795,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 693,687. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $41.19 and a 12 month high of $62.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.62.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 35.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on HWC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.63.

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.