Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Downgraded by Autonomous Res to Hold

Autonomous Res downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research cut Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.25.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $75.66 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $69.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.52. The company has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.94. Hancock Whitney has a 12-month low of $54.05 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.04. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 21.34% and a return on equity of 11.20%. The business had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.01 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 41.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total value of $28,005.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,683,432.56. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,094,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 348,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,850,000 after buying an additional 72,433 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth $6,070,000. Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth $23,457,000. Finally, Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth $576,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.