Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.25.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 2.9%

HWC opened at $67.17 on Friday. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $43.90 and a 12 month high of $71.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.83. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.05.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $81.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.63 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.16% and a net margin of 24.05%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HWC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,224,000. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 134.3% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 909,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,941,000 after purchasing an additional 521,261 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 126,754.3% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 457,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,671,000 after purchasing an additional 457,583 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 83.0% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 850,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,827,000 after purchasing an additional 385,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at $23,457,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.