Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 435,410 shares traded hands during mid-day 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on HWC. StockNews.com raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $56.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.25. The company has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 34.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HWC. Norges Bank bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at $54,605,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at $24,775,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at $13,796,000. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at $12,937,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 544,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,795,000 after acquiring an additional 223,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

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.