Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Benchmark

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was upgraded by Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

HWC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.25.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $74.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $54.05 and a 1 year high of $75.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $68.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.23.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.04. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.20% and a net margin of 21.34%.The company had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Hancock Whitney’s revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total value of $28,005.72. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,683,432.56. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HWC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,790,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,652,000 after purchasing an additional 21,655 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,521,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,935,000 after buying an additional 126,367 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 10.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,878,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,589,000 after buying an additional 182,845 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,246,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 920,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,595,000 after buying an additional 162,482 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.