Short Interest in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Expands By 7.2%

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,370,000 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the November 30th total of 2,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 521,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of HWC stock opened at $54.72 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.27. 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 1-year low of $41.19 and a 1-year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens upgraded Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.00.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,105. The trade was a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,197,000 after acquiring an additional 167,304 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,917,000 after purchasing an additional 73,316 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,016,000 after buying an additional 30,239 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,015,000 after purchasing an additional 237,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,154,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,093,000 after purchasing an additional 46,622 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.