Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,250,000 shares, a decline of 5.1% from the December 15th total of 2,370,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 529,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $59.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $41.19 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.45.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $40,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,105. The trade was a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,232,343.20. The trade was a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,563 shares of company stock worth $1,150,661. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $72,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the second quarter valued at approximately $117,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 170.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HWC shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.63.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.