Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Raymond James Financial Analyst Says

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) had its price target upped by Raymond James Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Raymond James Financial currently has a strong-buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research 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 research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.71.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

HWC stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,437,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 633,314. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Hancock Whitney has a one year low of $43.90 and a one year high of $62.40. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $56.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.18.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 23.28%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

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

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $552,539,000 after acquiring an additional 181,706 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 valued at $160,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,869 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $109,592,000 after acquiring an additional 235,363 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew 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 valued at $105,139,000 after acquiring an additional 128,860 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,315 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently 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.