Truist Financial Trims Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Target Price to $46.00

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) had its price target lowered by Truist Financial from $50.00 to $46.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com cut Hancock Whitney from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Sunday, March 31st. DA Davidson raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $52.00 target price (down from $55.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $50.71.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 3.6 %

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $44.27 on Wednesday. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $31.02 and a 1 year high of $49.65. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.58 and a 200-day moving average of $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 19.07%. The business had revenue of $308.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $355.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 27.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $158,166.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,897.50. The sale 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 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $158,166.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,897.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total value of $464,757.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,421,996.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,183 shares of company stock valued at $1,450,992. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,107,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,688,000 after purchasing an additional 42,241 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,192,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,670,000 after purchasing an additional 95,432 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,749,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,786,000 after purchasing an additional 249,944 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,567,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,218,000 after purchasing an additional 596,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 4,264,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,030,000 after purchasing an additional 21,842 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.