Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after DA Davidson raised their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $57.00. The stock had previously closed at $42.01, but opened at $43.99. DA Davidson currently has a buy rating on the stock. Hancock Whitney shares last traded at $43.05, with a volume of 120,407 shares.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Stephens decreased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 31st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total value of $464,757.55. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,996.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total transaction of $828,068.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 71,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,330,437.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total value of $464,757.55. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,159 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,996.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,183 shares of company stock worth $1,450,992. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pathstone Family Office LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 13,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC now owns 10,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 12.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.2 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.33.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $308.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.51 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 19.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.97%.

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.