Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Upgraded by Raymond James to Strong-Buy Rating

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was upgraded by Raymond James from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on HWC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens upgraded Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $54.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $41.19 and a 12 month high of $62.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.02.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,105. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth about $63,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at about $95,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.