Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Given “Overweight” Rating at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler restated their overweight rating on shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $70.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $68.00.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on HWC. StockNews.com raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.56.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 0.3 %

HWC stock opened at $48.52 on Wednesday. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $42.39 and a twelve month high of $62.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.19 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.09.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. The company had revenue of $367.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.12 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $305,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 149.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,435,000 after purchasing an additional 192,295 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,016,000 after purchasing an additional 30,239 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,741 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,227,000 after buying an additional 96,092 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently 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.