Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Hovde Group lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 12th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.56.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ HWC opened at $76.29 on Wednesday. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $54.05 and a 12 month high of $79.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.86 and a 200-day moving average of $69.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 0.95.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.55. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 11.36%. The business had revenue of $403.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 39.22%.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total transaction of $28,005.72. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,683,432.56. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 22,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total transaction of $1,728,828.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,364,108.80. This trade represents a 33.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 8.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.