Piper Sandler Reiterates Overweight Rating for Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $52.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $55.00. Piper Sandler’s target price indicates a potential upside of 21.89% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ HWC traded up $0.65 on Wednesday, reaching $42.66. 1,096,686 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 502,764. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $31.02 and a 12 month high of $49.65. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.43. The company has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 1.33. 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 (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $308.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $355.51 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 12.54%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 4,042 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total transaction of $183,021.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 40,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,811,924.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 4,042 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total transaction of $183,021.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 40,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,811,924.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total transaction of $464,757.55. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,996.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,225 shares of company stock worth $1,634,014. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathstone Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 13,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Cutler Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC now owns 10,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 12.4% in 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 last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.