Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Short Interest Update

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 7,071,581 shares, a growth of 21.4% from the February 26th total of 5,824,421 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 893,048 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.9 days. Approximately 8.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.63.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $62.38 on Tuesday. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $43.90 and a 1 year high of $75.43. The stock has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.07 and a 200-day moving average of $63.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $81.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.63 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 11.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total transaction of $358,415.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,301 shares in the company, valued at $2,283,449.57. This represents a 13.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amundi bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth approximately $50,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 287,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,078,000 after purchasing an additional 11,551 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 951.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 123,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,494,000 after purchasing an additional 112,042 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.