Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Receives Overweight Rating from Stephens

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $68.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $54.02 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.77 and a 200 day moving average of $52.61. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $41.19 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $525.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 35.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 54,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,669. This trade represents a 13.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at $810,105. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 21.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,227,000 after acquiring an additional 96,092 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,741 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth about $426,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,016,000 after buying an additional 30,239 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.