Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Given “Overweight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $74.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $68.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $59.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.73. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $41.19 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 213.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,663,000 after purchasing an additional 501,259 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 149.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,435,000 after acquiring an additional 192,295 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 36.8% during the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,072,000 after purchasing an additional 163,438 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 20.9% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 780,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,350,000 after purchasing an additional 135,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 21.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,227,000 after buying an additional 96,092 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.