Short Interest in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Declines By 15.4%

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,410,000 shares, a drop of 15.4% from the September 15th total of 2,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 550,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In related news, Director Frank E. Bertucci sold 2,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $117,082.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,286,254.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,192,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,670,000 after acquiring an additional 95,432 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the first quarter valued at about $349,000. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 21,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 327,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,060,000 after buying an additional 5,262 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 52,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,431,000 after buying an additional 4,609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of HWC traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $53.32. The stock had a trading volume of 978,257 shares, compared to its average volume of 502,517. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.79 and a 200 day moving average of $48.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.26. Hancock Whitney has a 52 week low of $32.16 and a 52 week high of $57.78.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 11.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.89.

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.