DA Davidson Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at DA Davidson from $79.00 to $86.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. DA Davidson’s price target points to a potential upside of 30.63% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on HWC. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.14.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Hancock Whitney stock traded up $1.68 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $65.83. 283,669 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 856,630. The company has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.14. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $52.89 and a 1 year high of $75.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.01 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.20% and a net margin of 21.34%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 139.9% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 47,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 27,942 shares in the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 1st quarter valued at about $336,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 172.3% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,012 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 109,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,949,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,790,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,652,000 after purchasing an additional 21,655 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.