Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Downgraded to "Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney has been downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a bearish outlook on the stock.
• Several brokerage firms have adjusted their price targets for Hancock Whitney, with some showing a positive trend, such as Piper Sandler increasing their target from $70.00 to $72.00.
• The company reported earnings of $1.37 per share for the last quarter, slightly surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.36, alongside revenue of $377.98 million.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

HWC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $62.00 to $63.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.71.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of HWC traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.50. The stock had a trading volume of 525,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,491. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.05. Hancock Whitney has a 1-year low of $43.90 and a 1-year high of $62.90.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $377.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $375.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 50.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,057,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,345,000 after buying an additional 1,024,869 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,605,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,019,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,163,000. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth $24,775,000. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.

About Hancock Whitney

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.