DA Davidson Increases Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Price Target to $57.00

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) had its price target raised by DA Davidson from $55.00 to $57.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. DA Davidson’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 33.40% from the stock’s previous close. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Hancock Whitney’s FY2024 earnings at $4.95 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $5.21 EPS.

HWC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial raised 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. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stephens dropped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Raymond James raised 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 given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of HWC opened at $42.73 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $43.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $31.02 and a fifty-two week high of $49.65.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $308.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total value of $828,068.90. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 71,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,330,437.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Hancock Whitney news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total value of $828,068.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 71,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,330,437.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total transaction of $464,757.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HWC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,846,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,143,000. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $22,744,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,567,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,218,000 after buying an additional 596,516 shares during the period. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 183.1% during the 2nd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 442,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,616,000 after buying an additional 286,206 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is 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.