Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Shares Gap Up to $42.01

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $42.01, but opened at $43.99. Hancock Whitney shares last traded at $43.05, with a volume of 120,407 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on HWC. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 31st. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.75.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.43.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $308.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $355.51 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 12.54%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.67%.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total value of $828,068.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 71,148 shares in the company, valued at $3,330,437.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total transaction of $828,068.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 71,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,330,437.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total transaction of $464,757.55. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,996.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,225 shares of company stock worth $1,634,014. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 151.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.