Short Interest in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Expands By 21.4%

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 7,071,581 shares, a growth of 21.4% from the February 26th total of 5,824,421 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 893,048 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.9 days. Currently, 8.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total value of $358,415.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,301 shares in the company, valued at $2,283,449.57. The trade was a 13.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 67.6% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $63.59 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.99 and a 200-day moving average of $63.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 1.05. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $43.90 and a twelve month high of $75.43.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 11.16%. The business had revenue of $81.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HWC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.63.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.