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

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $68.00 target price on the stock.

HWC has been the topic of several other reports. Raymond James upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.00.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC traded down $0.70 during trading on Thursday, reaching $54.02. 686,105 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 416,728. 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 company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 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's 50-day moving average is $56.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.61.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney 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 transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total transaction of $443,049.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 54,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,669. The trade was a 13.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the second quarter valued at $63,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $117,000. 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.