Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Upgraded to “Overweight” by Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on HWC. StockNews.com upgraded Hancock Whitney from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, September 7th. Raymond James downgraded Hancock Whitney from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $46.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $44.50 to $49.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Hancock Whitney from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $45.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC opened at $38.81 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.24. Hancock Whitney has a 12-month low of $31.02 and a 12-month high of $57.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.32.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 29.92%. The company had revenue of $359.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Hancock Whitney’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 20.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 23,517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $1,034,748.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,036,236. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 23,517 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $1,034,748.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,036,236. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cecil W. Knight, Jr. sold 1,892 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.65, for a total value of $82,585.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,451,929.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,704 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,019. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the first quarter valued at about $203,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 8.7% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 12.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth about $783,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 10.5% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 31,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,659,000 after purchasing an additional 3,034 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.45% of the company’s stock.

About Hancock Whitney

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 checking and saving accounts including currency exchange and overdraft services; and range of loan products, which includes credit personal and home equity, construction, and term loans, mortgage facilities, credit cards, equipment finance, line of credit, leasing, commercial loan programs, asset based lending services, derivatives, and equipment and litigation finance, as well as new markets tax credit investment including bridge finance.