Piper Sandler Increases Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Price Target to $72.00

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s target price indicates a potential upside of 19.52% from the stock’s previous close.

HWC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Hovde Group upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $62.00 price objective (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stephens cut 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, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.71.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

HWC opened at $60.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Hancock Whitney has a 1-year low of $43.90 and a 1-year high of $62.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $56.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.14.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $377.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $375.99 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 23.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.09, for a total value of $40,299.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 23,019 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,983.71. This represents a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 554.6% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth $41,000. Amundi purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth $50,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1,132.1% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 998 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.