Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.25.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $67.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $64.40 and its 200-day moving average is $61.82. Hancock Whitney has a one year low of $43.90 and a one year high of $71.20.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $410,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 145,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,359,000 after acquiring an additional 4,873 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 83.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 850,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,827,000 after purchasing an additional 385,784 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 5.9% during the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 18,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.