Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Earns Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Piper Sandler in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $52.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $55.00. Piper Sandler’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.69% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 31st. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $42.73 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.33. Hancock Whitney has a 1-year low of $31.02 and a 1-year high of $49.65.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $308.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.51 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.07% and a return on equity of 12.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total transaction of $464,757.55. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total transaction of $464,757.55. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total transaction of $828,068.90. Following the sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,183 shares of company stock valued at $1,450,992. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HWC. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 1st quarter worth about $203,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 1st quarter valued at about $783,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 31,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after acquiring an additional 3,034 shares during the period. 81.22% 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 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.