Raymond James Reaffirms “Strong-Buy” Rating for Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)‘s stock had its “strong-buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Raymond James in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $62.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $72.00. Raymond James’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 27.44% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on HWC. StockNews.com raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $48.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.07. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $42.51 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. The firm had revenue of $367.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.12 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth about $305,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 149.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,435,000 after buying an additional 192,295 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,016,000 after buying an additional 30,239 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 2,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 21.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,227,000 after acquiring an additional 96,092 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.