Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Given Overweight Rating at Piper Sandler

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by research analysts at Piper Sandler in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $70.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $68.00. Piper Sandler’s price objective points to a potential upside of 43.59% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on HWC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities 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 data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.75. The stock had a trading volume of 224,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 576,284. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 0.99. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $41.56 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $367.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.12 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 21.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,227,000 after acquiring an additional 96,092 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at $1,096,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,235,000 after acquiring an additional 73,875 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 135.4% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 12,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,000 after acquiring an additional 7,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inman Jager Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth about $696,000. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.