Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney was upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen in a recent research report, indicating a more favorable outlook for the stock.
• Analysts have adjusted target prices, with Piper Sandler raising it to $72.00, while Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target to $63.00.
• The company reported earnings of $1.37 EPS for the most recent quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.36 EPS.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

HWC has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.71.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC traded down $0.11 on Friday, reaching $58.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 127,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 723,679. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.49. Hancock Whitney has a 52-week low of $43.90 and a 52-week high of $62.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 1.11.

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. The company had revenue of $377.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $375.99 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 23.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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 will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney's payout ratio is currently 33.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 612,571 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,520,000 after purchasing an additional 60,935 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 17,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 3,735 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 146,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,018,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,769 shares of the company's stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 255,776 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,996,000 after purchasing an additional 55,233 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.