Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $67.10 and last traded at $66.4320, with a volume of 137100 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $65.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HWC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays started coverage on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $70.88.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.83. The stock has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.10.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $175.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.32 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 23.99%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.20%.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total transaction of $542,784.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,733 shares in the company, valued at $3,057,512.38. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 67.6% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter worth about $253,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 84,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter valued at about $575,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter worth about $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

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.