Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Short Interest Up 7.2% in December

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,370,000 shares, an increase of 7.2% from the November 30th total of 2,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 521,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.72. 294,672 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 505,913. The company has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $41.19 and a twelve month high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.59.

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

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney's payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In related news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,857,669. This represents a 13.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney 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 directly owns 254,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HWC. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the second quarter worth $63,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth $72,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at $117,000. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HWC shares. Stephens raised shares of Hancock Whitney from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Hancock Whitney from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.00.

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.