Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Rating Increased to Buy at Citigroup

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Citigroup from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $50.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $48.00. Citigroup's price objective points to a potential upside of 17.21% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,097,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 506,880. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Hancock Whitney has a 52-week low of $31.02 and a 52-week high of $49.65. The firm's 50-day moving average is $43.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.43. The company has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.33.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $354.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.15 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 20.57%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $158,166.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,897.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 4,042 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total transaction of $183,021.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 40,016 shares in the company, valued at $1,811,924.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $158,166.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,534,897.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,225 shares of company stock valued at $1,634,014. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,846,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,143,000. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the first quarter valued at approximately $22,744,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,567,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,218,000 after purchasing an additional 596,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 183.1% in the 2nd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 442,487 shares of the company's stock worth $19,616,000 after buying an additional 286,206 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.