Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Shares Gap Up to $42.01

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $42.01, but opened at $43.99. Hancock Whitney shares last traded at $43.05, with a volume of 120,407 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens decreased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Raymond James increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 31st. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 1.0 %

The company has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.55 and a 200-day moving average of $42.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. The company 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 12.54% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 26.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total transaction of $464,757.55. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,159 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,996.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total transaction of $464,757.55. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,159 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,996.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 4,042 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total value of $183,021.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 40,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,811,924.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,225 shares of company stock worth $1,634,014 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HWC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,846,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,143,000. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $22,744,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 15.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 183.1% during the 2nd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 442,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,616,000 after acquiring an additional 286,206 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.