Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Raised to “Buy” at Citigroup

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $50.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $48.00. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.18% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on HWC. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of HWC traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $42.67. The company had a trading volume of 729,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 501,388. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 1.33. Hancock Whitney has a 52-week low of $31.02 and a 52-week high of $49.65.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $308.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.51 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total value of $464,757.55. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,996.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total transaction of $828,068.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 71,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,330,437.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total value of $464,757.55. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,996.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,225 shares of company stock worth $1,634,014. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 13.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 832,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,791,000 after purchasing an additional 96,522 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 122,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,516,000 after buying an additional 4,886 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 16.0% in the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,407,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,064,000 after buying an additional 194,100 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,039,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,449,000 after buying an additional 14,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 5.8% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 443,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,388,000 after buying an additional 24,290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation operates as the financial holding company for Hancock Whitney Bank that provides traditional and online banking services to commercial, small business, and retail customers. It offers various transaction and savings deposit products consisting of brokered deposits, time deposits, and money market accounts; treasury management services, secured and unsecured loan products including revolving credit facilities, and letters of credit and similar financial guarantees; and trust and investment management services to retirement plans, corporations, and individuals, and investment advisory and brokerage products.