Stephens Reiterates “Equal Weight” Rating for Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $50.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered Hancock Whitney from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Sunday, March 31st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. 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. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Hancock Whitney from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $50.71.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 3.6 %

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

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 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 11.89% and a net margin of 19.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total value of $828,068.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 71,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,330,437.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total value of $464,757.55. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total transaction of $828,068.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 71,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,330,437.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,183 shares of company stock worth $1,450,992 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth about $46,846,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth about $38,143,000. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth about $22,744,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 15.0% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 183.1% in the second quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 442,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,616,000 after purchasing an additional 286,206 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.