Wall Street Zen Downgrades Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) to Sell

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on HWC. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.71.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ HWC opened at $60.69 on Friday. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $43.90 and a twelve month high of $62.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.42.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.28% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The firm had revenue of $377.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $375.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 554.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth $41,000. Amundi bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth $50,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1,132.1% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 998 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.