Hancock Whitney's (HWC) Strong-Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Raymond James

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "strong-buy" rating restated by equities researchers at Raymond James in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $62.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $72.00. Raymond James' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 27.44% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Hancock Whitney from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $48.65. 1,045,051 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 580,272. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $52.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.11. Hancock Whitney has a 52 week low of $43.60 and a 52 week high of $62.40. The company has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $367.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.12 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,097,563 shares of the company's stock valued at $552,539,000 after buying an additional 181,706 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,016,000 after acquiring an additional 30,239 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,898,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,557,000 after acquiring an additional 12,172 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,280 shares of the company's stock worth $72,300,000 after purchasing an additional 193,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,265,146 shares of the company's stock worth $69,229,000 after purchasing an additional 66,074 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.