Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Upgraded at Citigroup

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $50.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $48.00. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 17.18% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:HWC traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.67. The stock had a trading volume of 729,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 501,388. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 1.33. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $31.02 and a twelve month high of $49.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $308.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $355.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total value of $464,757.55. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,996.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total transaction of $464,757.55. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,996.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 4,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,225 shares of company stock worth $1,634,014 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 1st quarter worth $203,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,717,000 after buying an additional 2,641 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 1st quarter worth $783,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 31,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,659,000 after buying an additional 3,034 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.