Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Price Target to $70.00

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $60.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 19.58% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on HWC. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $58.54 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $54.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.21. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $41.19 and a 12 month 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. The company had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $40,760.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at $810,105. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,197,000 after purchasing an additional 167,304 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings 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 worth $219,917,000 after purchasing an additional 73,316 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,016,000 after purchasing an additional 30,239 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 20.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,015,000 after buying an additional 237,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,154,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,093,000 after buying an additional 46,622 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

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.