Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Price Target to $65.00

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $64.00 to $65.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.56% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.14.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $59.33 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 1.18. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $43.90 and a 1 year high of $64.66. The company’s fifty day moving average is $60.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.70.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.99% and a return on equity of 11.29%. The business had revenue of $0.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total transaction of $542,784.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,057,512.38. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,224,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,057,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,869 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth $43,019,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth $38,163,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 126,754.3% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 457,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,671,000 after purchasing an additional 457,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.