Zacks Research Lifts Earnings Estimates for Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) – Research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for Hancock Whitney in a research report issued on Monday, March 24th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $1.40 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.38. The consensus estimate for Hancock Whitney’s current full-year earnings is $5.53 per share.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share.

HWC has been the subject of several other research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $53.55 on Thursday. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $41.56 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. 111 Capital bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth $236,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth about $3,841,000. GTS Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth about $339,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth about $231,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.09%.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.