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

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.86.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $68.76 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.72. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $52.89 and a fifty-two week high of $75.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $393.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.01 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 21.34% and a return on equity of 11.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 6.28 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 41.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at $80,246,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,463,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 18,614.2% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 535,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,071,000 after acquiring an additional 532,180 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 134.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 909,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,941,000 after acquiring an additional 521,261 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 126,754.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 457,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,671,000 after acquiring an additional 457,583 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.