Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 435,410 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the previous session’s volume of 506,750 shares.The stock last traded at $51.78 and had previously closed at $51.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.26.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 34.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 105.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 74,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,824,000 after purchasing an additional 38,398 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 7.0% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 32,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter worth $810,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,154,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,093,000 after purchasing an additional 46,622 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 15.7% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 149,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,630,000 after purchasing an additional 20,213 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.