Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Downgraded by Autonomous Res to “Hold”

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was downgraded by Autonomous Res from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

HWC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Hovde Group downgraded Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.25.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $75.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney has a 52 week low of $54.05 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.04 and a 200-day moving average of $67.52.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.01 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.20% and a net margin of 21.34%.Hancock Whitney’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total value of $28,005.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,683,432.56. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HWC. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.9% in the first quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 31.0% in the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is 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.