Raymond James Financial Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "strong-buy" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial's price target points to a potential upside of 15.78% from the company's previous close.

HWC has been the subject of several other reports. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Stephens decreased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $63.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.9%

Hancock Whitney stock traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.73. The company had a trading volume of 267,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 705,594. The stock has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 1.05. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $43.90 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.40 and a 200 day moving average of $55.07.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $377.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $375.99 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 11.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.09, for a total transaction of $40,299.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,983.71. This trade represents a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,097,563 shares of the company's stock worth $552,539,000 after acquiring an additional 181,706 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 50.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,057,103 shares of the company's stock worth $160,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,869 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 12.7% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,089,454 shares of the company's stock worth $109,592,000 after acquiring an additional 235,363 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 6.8% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,027,364 shares of the company's stock worth $105,139,000 after acquiring an additional 128,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 0.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,465,661 shares of the company's stock worth $76,874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,315 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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