Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Upgraded by Hovde Group to Hold Rating

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was upgraded by analysts at Hovde Group to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.43.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $72.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 0.95. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $52.93 and a twelve month high of $75.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.57.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.01 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.20% and a net margin of 21.34%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total value of $28,005.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,683,432.56. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at about $80,246,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,463,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 18,614.2% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 535,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,071,000 after purchasing an additional 532,180 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 134.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 909,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,941,000 after purchasing an additional 521,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $23,457,000. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.