Zacks Research Predicts Hancock Whitney FY2024 Earnings

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) – Zacks Research reduced their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Hancock Whitney in a research note issued on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the company will post earnings of $5.17 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $5.18. The consensus estimate for Hancock Whitney’s current full-year earnings is $5.19 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Hancock Whitney’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.25 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.21 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.35 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.38 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.31 EPS.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. 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. DA Davidson upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.63.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $55.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $41.19 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $57.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.97.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $72,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at $117,000. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $40,760.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at $810,105. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 35.87%.

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.