Hancock Whitney Corporation (HWC)
NASDAQ:HWC
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Hancock Whitney
(NASDAQ:HWC)
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Rating:70Outperform
Price Target:
$77.00
▲(14.53% Upside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:02/27/26
The score is driven primarily by solid underlying financial performance (healthy profitability and improved leverage versus 2022) and a constructive earnings outlook with quantified benefits from the bond portfolio restructuring plus ongoing buybacks. Valuation is supportive with a modest P/E and a mid-single-digit dividend yield, while the main offsets are cash flow volatility and mixed near-term technical momentum.
Positive Factors
Strong profitability and margins
Consistently strong operating and net margins indicate durable core profitability and efficient operations. This margin profile supports internal capital generation, funds reinvestment and shareholder returns, and provides a buffer to absorb cyclical credit losses over the next several quarters.
Negative Factors
Cash flow volatility and decline
Material swings and a steep TTM decline in operating/free cash flow reduce predictability of internally generated funds. Over the medium term this can constrain capacity for organic investment, support for dividends/buybacks, and make capital planning more sensitive to cyclical earnings and credit outcomes.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Strong profitability and margins
Consistently strong operating and net margins indicate durable core profitability and efficient operations. This margin profile supports internal capital generation, funds reinvestment and shareholder returns, and provides a buffer to absorb cyclical credit losses over the next several quarters.
Read all positive factors
Hancock Whitney (HWC) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$5.49B
Dividend Yield2.74%
Average Volume (3M)887.72K
Price to Earnings (P/E)10.5
Beta (1Y)1.01
Revenue Growth-0.78%
EPS Growth25.39%
CountryUS
Employees3,497
SectorFinancial
Sector Strength70
IndustryBanks - Regional
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)1.49
Shares Outstanding81,662,940
10 Day Avg. Volume703,523
30 Day Avg. Volume887,719
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio1.41
Price to Book (P/B)1.19
Price to Sales (P/S)2.62
P/FCF Ratio10.12
Enterprise Value/Market Cap1.15
Enterprise Value/Revenue3.12
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit4.27
Enterprise Value/Ebitda9.60
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$77.33Price Target Upside15.02% Upside
Rating ConsensusStrong Buy
Number of Analyst Covering6
EPS Forecast (FY)6.34
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.61B
Hancock Whitney Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
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 accepts various deposit products, includin...
How the Company Makes Money
Hancock Whitney generates revenue primarily through its core banking operations, which include interest income from loans and investment securities, as well as non-interest income from services such as wealth management, mortgage banking, and tran...
Hancock Whitney Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Jan 20, 2026
(Q4-2025)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Apr 21, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call presented a predominately positive outlook: management reported solid year-over-year improvements in EPS, PPNR and tangible book value, delivered strong loan and deposit production, completed a value-accretive bond restructuring with quantifiable NII/NIM/EPS benefits, and kept an efficient cost profile and robust capital levels while approving a new buyback plan. Lowlights included modest quarter-over-quarter stagnation in EPS/PPNR, short-term NIM pressure from lower loan yields and a one-time pretax charge of $99 million tied to the restructuring, plus reinvestment-driven expense growth and near-term funding seasonality. Overall, the positives (organic growth, fee momentum, capital strength and the bond portfolio uplift) materially outweigh the transitory and manageable negatives.Positive Updates
Year-over-Year Earnings and Profitability Improvement
EPS improved 8% year-over-year; fourth quarter earnings of $126 million ($1.49 per share) with annual PPNR growth of 6% and tangible book value per share up 12%.
Negative Updates
Quarterly EPS and PPNR Nearly Flat
Q4 earnings were $126 million ($1.49), essentially flat versus Q3 ($127 million, $1.49), and PPNR was down slightly from the prior quarter to $174 million, reflecting limited near-term QoQ upside.
Read all updates
Q4-2025 Updates
Positive
Negative
Year-over-Year Earnings and Profitability Improvement
EPS improved 8% year-over-year; fourth quarter earnings of $126 million ($1.49 per share) with annual PPNR growth of 6% and tangible book value per share up 12%.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Hancock Whitney’s 2026 guidance assumes two 25‑bp rate cuts (April and July) and includes the recently completed bond portfolio restructuring (sold $1.5B at 2.49% and reinvested at ~4.35%; expected to add ~7 bps to NIM, ~$24M to NII and ~$0.23 to EPS, excluding a $99M pretax charge), and calls for NII growth of 5%–6% with modest NIM expansion (management noted a potential 12–15 bps 4Q‑to‑4Q improvement with ~7 bps from the restructure), PPNR up 4.5%–5.5%, fee income up 4%–5%, expenses up 5%–6% (including ~185 bps impact from the organic growth plan and a full year of Stable Trust), an efficiency ratio of 54%–55%, loan growth in the mid‑single digits, deposit growth in the low single digits (management assumes ~$8B of CD maturities rolling at ~3.34% and re‑pricing back near ~2.80% with ~81% renewal), net charge‑offs averaging 15–25 bps, a current allowance at 1.43% of loans, a target TCE of ~9.0%–9.5% (versus just over 10% today), and a Board‑approved 5% buyback plan to be executed more evenly through 2026.Hancock Whitney Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
76
Positive
Balance Sheet
72
Positive
Cash Flow
62
Positive
| Breakdown | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | |||||
| Total Revenue | 2.02B | 2.05B | 1.89B | 1.47B | 1.35B |
| Gross Profit | 1.47B | 1.39B | 1.31B | 1.41B | 1.37B |
| EBITDA | 655.82M | 615.69M | 536.40M | 704.81M | 613.83M |
| Net Income | 486.07M | 460.81M | 392.60M | 524.09M | 463.21M |
Balance Sheet | |||||
| Total Assets | 35.47B | 35.08B | 35.58B | 35.18B | 36.53B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 563.22M | 6.68B | 6.10B | 6.44B | 11.22B |
| Total Debt | 1.34B | 967.38M | 1.52B | 2.23B | 2.03B |
| Total Liabilities | 31.01B | 30.95B | 31.77B | 31.84B | 32.86B |
| Stockholders Equity | 4.46B | 4.13B | 3.80B | 3.34B | 3.67B |
Cash Flow | |||||
| Free Cash Flow | 523.06M | 615.50M | 470.22M | 812.88M | 562.15M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 541.78M | 625.74M | 495.25M | 842.02M | 585.69M |
| Investing Cash Flow | -314.36M | 274.76M | -295.21M | 662.36M | -3.22B |
| Financing Cash Flow | -239.34M | -886.79M | -203.29M | -1.34B | 2.51B |
Hancock Whitney Technical Analysis
Positive
67.23
Price Trends
66.39
Positive
65.12
Positive
62.16
Positive
Market Momentum
0.45
Negative
61.94
Neutral
88.87
Negative
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For HWC, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 67.23 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 63.61, above the 50-day MA of 66.39, and above the 200-day MA of 62.16, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 0.45 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 61.94 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 88.87 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for HWC.
Hancock Whitney Risk Analysis
Hancock Whitney disclosed 39 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Hancock Whitney reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Hancock Whitney Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (68)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
73 Outperform | $4.46B | 16.86 | 14.16% | 2.42% | 12.90% | 16.92% | |
71 Outperform | $5.62B | 12.33 | 10.41% | 1.02% | 2.20% | 20.88% | |
70 Outperform | $5.49B | 10.54 | 11.06% | 2.74% | -0.78% | 25.39% | |
68 Neutral | $18.00B | 11.42 | 9.92% | 3.81% | 9.73% | 1.22% | |
66 Neutral | $5.24B | 9.54 | 16.59% | ― | 1.66% | -9.31% | |
63 Neutral | $5.42B | 11.17 | 6.10% | 3.83% | 43.53% | -21.74% | |
61 Neutral | $6.11B | 11.61 | 8.60% | 3.77% | 8.83% | 15.49% |
* Financial Sector Average
HWC
Hancock Whitney
67.23
21.02
45.47%
ABCB
Ameris Bancorp
82.86
31.75
62.12%
AX
Axos Financial
92.50
34.17
58.58%
FFIN
First Financial Bankshares
31.16
0.15
0.47%
AUB
Atlantic Union Bankshares
38.03
14.95
64.77%
UBSI
United Bankshares
43.84
12.81
41.27%
Hancock Whitney Corporate Events
DividendsFinancial Disclosures
Hancock Whitney Raises Quarterly Dividend, Signals Earnings Confidence
Positive
Jan 29, 2026
On January 29, 2026, Hancock Whitney Corporation’s board of directors approved an 11.1% increase in its regular first-quarter 2026 common stock cash dividend to $0.50 per share, payable on March 16, 2026 to shareholders of record as of March...
Business Operations and StrategyStock BuybackFinancial Disclosures
Hancock Whitney Posts Strong Q4 Results, Expands Buybacks
Positive
Jan 20, 2026
On January 20, 2026, Hancock Whitney reported fourth-quarter 2025 net income of $125.6 million, or $1.49 per diluted share, essentially flat versus the prior quarter and up from $1.40 a year earlier, capping what management described as a strong y...
Business Operations and StrategyStock Buyback
Hancock Whitney Announces New Stock Buyback Program
Positive
Dec 10, 2025
On December 9, 2025, Hancock Whitney Corporation’s Board of Directors authorized a new stock buyback program, effective January 1, 2026, allowing the company to repurchase up to 5% of its outstanding common stock by December 31, 2026. This i...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.