Piper Jaffray Raises Price Target on Hancock Holding (HBHC) Following 2Q Report

Piper Jaffray reiterated a Neutral rating on Hancock Holding (NASDAQ: HBHC), and raised the price target to $29.00 (from $27.50), following the company's 2Q earnings report. Operating EPS of $0.58 easily surpassed the Street's EPS of $0.44.

Analyst Peyton Green commented, "EPS of $0.59 in 2Q16 should provide a bounce in HBHC's shares given the strong operating leverage posted. We are raising our operating 2016E EPS to $1.73 (+$0.23), 2017E EPS to $2.23 (+$0.03), and introducing 2018E EPS of $2.45. Energy loan credit and payoff dynamics could cause volatility in EPS of $0.54 in 3Q16E and $0.52 in 4Q16E, despite a trend of improving operating leverage. Our quarterly provision estimate of $21M could vary materially (+or-) in 2H16E. We are raising our target to $29 (+$1.50), or 13x (+0.5x) 2017E EPS. The higher P/E is a discount to the average 5Y FY1 P/E of 14.1x, which is reasonable given energy exposure/credit quality, in our view."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Hancock Holding click here. For more ratings news on Hancock Holding click here.

Shares of Hancock Holding closed at $27.81 yesterday.

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