Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.86.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of HWC stock opened at $66.83 on Thursday. Hancock Whitney has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $75.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.28.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.04. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.20% and a net margin of 21.34%.The business had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Hancock Whitney’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 6.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Amundi purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the first quarter valued at about $50,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 22.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 287,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,078,000 after purchasing an additional 11,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 951.9% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 123,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,494,000 after purchasing an additional 112,042 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

About Hancock Whitney

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.