Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Short Interest Up 8.5% in January

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,670,000 shares, a growth of 8.5% from the January 15th total of 2,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 584,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HWC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 275,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,098,000 after purchasing an additional 29,437 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 200,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,995,000 after purchasing an additional 56,296 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 15,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC now owns 34,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,901 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth $2,386,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $60.11 on Tuesday. Hancock Whitney has a one year low of $41.56 and a one year high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 30.30%.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.