Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Now Covered by Analysts at Barclays

Barclays started coverage on shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.88.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $66.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney has a one year low of $43.90 and a one year high of $67.10. The company has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.10.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.99% and a return on equity of 11.29%. The firm had revenue of $175.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 32.20%.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total transaction of $542,784.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,733 shares in the company, valued at $3,057,512.38. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter worth $60,224,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,057,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,869 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 134.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 909,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,941,000 after acquiring an additional 521,261 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 126,754.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 457,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,671,000 after acquiring an additional 457,583 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 83.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 850,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,827,000 after acquiring an additional 385,784 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

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.