Brokerages Set Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Target Price at $62.56

Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.56.

HWC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $51.21 on Friday. Hancock Whitney has a 1-year low of $41.56 and a 1-year high of $62.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $57.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.24.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,605,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,775,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,796,000. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth $12,937,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 69.5% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 544,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,795,000 after acquiring an additional 223,275 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.