Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Stephens

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 target price on the stock. Stephens’ target price suggests a potential upside of 17.21% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on HWC. Citigroup raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ HWC traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $42.66. 1,096,686 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 502,764. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.43. Hancock Whitney has a one year low of $31.02 and a one year high of $49.65. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In related news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $158,166.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 35,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,897.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $158,166.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,897.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 4,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total transaction of $183,021.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 40,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,811,924.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,225 shares of company stock worth $1,634,014. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 8.7% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after buying an additional 2,641 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 12.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth approximately $783,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 31,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,659,000 after acquiring an additional 3,034 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.