Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

HWC has been the subject of several other reports. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $58.97 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.33 and a 200-day moving average of $53.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $41.19 and a 12 month high of $62.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 30.30%.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,343.20. The trade was a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 170.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

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.