Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10, Zacks reports. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC traded up $1.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.69. The stock had a trading volume of 950,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,973. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.18. Hancock Whitney has a 1-year low of $41.56 and a 1-year high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 0.99.

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 issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HWC shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

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.