Hancock Whitney’s (HWC) Overweight Rating Reaffirmed at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $52.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $55.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on HWC. StockNews.com downgraded Hancock Whitney from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Sunday, March 31st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Hancock Whitney from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $42.66 on Wednesday. Hancock Whitney has a 52 week low of $31.02 and a 52 week high of $49.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.43.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $308.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 26.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,897.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total transaction of $828,068.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 71,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,330,437.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $158,166.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,534,897.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,225 shares of company stock worth $1,634,014 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HWC. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 136.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 151.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the period. 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.