Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Raymond James

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Raymond James from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on HWC. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens raised Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Three 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $54.38 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.02. The company has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney has a 12-month low of $41.19 and a 12-month high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 54,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,669. This represents a 13.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HWC. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Trust Point Inc. grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 10.6% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 6,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 3.5% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 18,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 24,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. 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.