Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Upgraded at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) from a moderate buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upgraded Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $54.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.02. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $41.19 and a 1 year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,105. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $39,981.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at approximately $844,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth $2,605,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 102,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,884,000 after buying an additional 26,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter valued at about $508,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 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.