Raymond James Financial Raises Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Price Target to $73.00

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial raised its target price for Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $73.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.39% from the stock's previous close.
• Hancock Whitney has received a mix of recommendations, with one firm rating it as a Strong Buy, five firms as Buy, and two as Hold, leading to an average rating of Moderate Buy.
• The company reported earnings of $1.37 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, with a revenue of $377.98 million which also surpassed expectations.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by Raymond James Financial from $68.00 to $73.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "strong-buy" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial's target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.47% from the stock's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.25.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of HWC stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $63.22. The stock had a trading volume of 763,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,205. Hancock Whitney has a one year low of $43.90 and a one year high of $64.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $60.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 1.13.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 23.28%.The company had revenue of $377.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $375.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.8% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 24,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,264,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.0% in the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 10,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. 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.