Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Earns “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by equities researchers at Stephens in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 price target on the stock. Stephens’ price target indicates a potential upside of 17.01% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial upped 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. Citigroup upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $42.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.43. The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $308.41 million during 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $158,166.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,897.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hancock Whitney news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 71,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,330,437.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $158,166.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,897.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,183 shares of company stock valued at $1,450,992 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathstone Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.9% in the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 13,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Cutler Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 2.7% during the second quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC now owns 10,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.