HWC

Hancock Whitney is a well-managed Gulf-South regional bank with a notably conservative funding profile and steadily improving returns. FY2025 net income grew 5.5% to $486M and diluted EPS rose 7.4% to $5.67, the faster EPS growth reflecting a 5.2% reduction in shares. ROE of 10.9% is solid, equity grew 8.1% to $4.46B, and retained earnings rose 12.2% to $3.04B. The five-year trajectory shows consistent profit growth ($393M in FY2023 to $486M in FY2025) on a stable ~$35.5B asset base.

The standout is the balance sheet's safety, which the 10-K documents in detail. Core deposits are 94.99% of total deposits (up from 94.12%), there are essentially no brokered time deposits, and the bank holds $18.9B of available on- and off-balance-sheet liquidity — comfortably in excess of its ~$11.3B of uninsured, non-collateralized deposits. Free securities are 51.97% of total securities, well above the 20% internal target, and wholesale funding is a tiny 4.37% of core deposits. This funding stability is precisely what protects a regional bank in a stressed-deposit environment, and it is a meaningful competitive advantage post-2023 regional-bank turmoil.