Hancock Whitney’s (HWC) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reissued their overweight rating on shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $68.00 price target on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $54.02 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $56.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $41.19 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. Analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $40,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at $810,105. The trade was a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth $844,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 66.7% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,605,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 102,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,884,000 after purchasing an additional 26,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $508,000. 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.