Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock Price

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $60.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.74% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on HWC. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ HWC traded up $0.33 on Wednesday, hitting $58.95. The company had a trading volume of 92,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,325. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney has a 12-month low of $41.19 and a 12-month high of $62.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.10. The company has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 54,380 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,669. The trade was a 13.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $810,105. The trade was a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HWC. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $844,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 66.7% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth $2,605,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 102,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,884,000 after buying an additional 26,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 59,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,746,000 after buying an additional 10,810 shares in the last quarter. 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.