Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Upgraded by Piper Sandler to Overweight

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson increased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $44.50 to $49.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Stephens upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $43.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Raymond James lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $46.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ HWC traded up $1.38 on Monday, reaching $39.68. 415,718 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 595,482. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 1.32. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $31.02 and a 12 month high of $57.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $359.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.50 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 29.92% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 23,517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $1,034,748.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,036,236. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 23,517 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $1,034,748.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,036,236. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 1,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total transaction of $47,574.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,199.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,704 shares of company stock worth $1,678,019. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,107,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,688,000 after buying an additional 42,241 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,044,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,308,000 after acquiring an additional 103,751 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 15.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,567,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,218,000 after acquiring an additional 596,516 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 0.5% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,295,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,690,000 after purchasing an additional 266,428 shares during the period. 84.45% 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 checking and saving accounts including currency exchange and overdraft services; and range of loan products, which includes credit personal and home equity, construction, and term loans, mortgage facilities, credit cards, equipment finance, line of credit, leasing, commercial loan programs, asset based lending services, derivatives, and equipment and litigation finance, as well as new markets tax credit investment including bridge finance.