Hancock Whitney Corporation (HWC) Reports 8% EPS Growth in Q4 2025, Plans to Hire 50 New Associates
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 2h ago
0mins
Source: seekingalpha
- Strong Earnings Performance: Hancock Whitney reported a net income of $126 million and EPS of $1.49 in Q4 2025, maintaining stability compared to Q3, which underscores the company's consistent profitability and operational resilience.
- Balance Sheet Optimization: The completion of a $1.5 billion bond portfolio restructuring is expected to enhance the net interest margin by 7 basis points and add $0.23 to EPS annually, further strengthening financial flexibility and profitability.
- Optimistic Growth Outlook: Management projects a 5%-6% increase in net interest income for 2026, with mid-single-digit loan growth and low single-digit deposit growth anticipated, reflecting the company's confidence and proactive market positioning.
- Shareholder Return Plan: The board approved a new 5% share buyback program, aiming to enhance EPS through the repurchase of approximately $147 million in shares, demonstrating the company's recognition of its value and commitment to shareholders.
Analyst Views on HWC
Wall Street analysts forecast HWC stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for HWC is 72.43 USD with a low forecast of 65.00 USD and a high forecast of 76.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
7 Analyst Rating
6 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 68.340
Low
65.00
Averages
72.43
High
76.00
Current: 68.340
Low
65.00
Averages
72.43
High
76.00
About HWC
Hancock Whitney Corporation is a bank holding company. The Company provides comprehensive financial services through its bank subsidiary, Hancock Whitney Bank (the Bank), a Mississippi state bank, and other nonbank affiliates. The Bank offers a broad range of traditional and online banking services to commercial, small business and retail customers, providing a variety of transaction and savings deposit products, treasury management services, secured and unsecured loan products (including revolving credit facilities), letters of credit and similar financial guarantees. The Bank provides trust and investment management services to retirement plans, corporations and individuals and provides its customers with access to investment advisory and brokerage products. It offers other services through bank and nonbank subsidiaries. The Bank’s subsidiaries provide commercial finance products to middle market and corporate clients, including leases and related structures.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
