FY2025 EPS Forecast for Hancock Whitney Lifted by Analyst

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) – Stock analysts at DA Davidson lifted their FY2025 earnings estimates for Hancock Whitney in a research report issued on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $6.05 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $5.32. DA Davidson 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 $5.16 per share.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 EPS.

HWC has been the topic of several other reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $59.60 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.07. Hancock Whitney has a 12-month low of $41.19 and a 12-month high of $62.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 213.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,663,000 after acquiring an additional 501,259 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 149.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,435,000 after purchasing an additional 192,295 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,072,000 after purchasing an additional 163,438 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 135,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 21.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,227,000 after buying an additional 96,092 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Hancock Whitney 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 transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued 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 dividend yield of 2.68%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 30.30%.

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.