Stephens Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC)

Stephens reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $74.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $68.00.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. DA Davidson increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $59.72 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.32 and a 200-day moving average of $53.73. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $41.19 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.87%.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,343.20. This represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 19,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 3,755 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1,987.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 51,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after acquiring an additional 48,957 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

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.