Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on HWC. Piper Sandler increased 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. Hovde Group cut Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 12th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Autonomous Res lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.25.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $75.66 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $69.04 and its 200 day moving average is $67.52. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $54.05 and a 12 month high of $76.38.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Hancock Whitney’s revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total transaction of $28,005.72. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,683,432.56. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 70.9% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.