Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Short Interest Update

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,370,000 shares, an increase of 7.2% from the November 30th total of 2,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 521,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at $810,105. This represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

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

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $54.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney has a 52 week low of $41.19 and a 52 week high of $62.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.59. 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 (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. The business had revenue of $525.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 35.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Stephens upgraded Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.