Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Raised to Overweight at Stephens

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Stephens from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of HWC stock opened at $58.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $41.19 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 54,380 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,669. The trade was a 13.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at about $844,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,605,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 102,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,884,000 after acquiring an additional 26,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth about $508,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

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.