Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $50.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $48.00. Citigroup’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.01% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on HWC. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 31st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.2 %

HWC stock opened at $42.73 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $31.02 and a twelve month high of $49.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.43.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $308.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $158,166.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,534,897.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $158,166.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 35,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,534,897.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,183 shares of company stock valued at $1,450,992 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 151.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.