Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC traded down $0.31 on Thursday, hitting $59.41. The stock had a trading volume of 655,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,413. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $41.19 and a twelve month high of $62.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.66%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,343.20. The trade was a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HWC. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 8.8% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 692,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,429,000 after acquiring an additional 55,869 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter worth $844,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,605,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 21.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,227,000 after purchasing an additional 96,092 shares in the last quarter. 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.