Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

by · The Markets Daily

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC – Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $64.72 and last traded at $64.4750, with a volume of 157009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on HWC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Monday, December 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $70.14.

Get Our Latest Research Report on HWC

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 0.3%

The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.53. The firm has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.10.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $175.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.32 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.99% and a return on equity of 11.29%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.20%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total value of $542,784.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 55,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,057,512.38. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 607,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,846,000 after acquiring an additional 10,157 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 60.5% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 391,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,517,000 after acquiring an additional 147,526 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the second quarter worth about $410,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 145,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,873 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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