Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Price Target Raised to $78.00

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) had its price objective upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $72.00 to $78.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price points to a potential upside of 5.78% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.50.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $73.74 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.83. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $54.05 and a 1 year high of $76.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.01 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.20% and a net margin of 21.34%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total transaction of $28,005.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,683,432.56. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Trading of Hancock Whitney

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HWC. Amundi bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth approximately $50,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,710,000 after buying an additional 2,255 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $15,078,000 after acquiring an additional 11,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $6,494,000 after acquiring an additional 112,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

About Hancock Whitney

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.