Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Short Interest Update

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,250,000 shares, a decrease of 5.1% from the December 31st total of 2,370,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 529,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HWC. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,917,000 after buying an additional 73,316 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,016,000 after purchasing an additional 30,239 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,898,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,557,000 after purchasing an additional 12,172 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,154,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,093,000 after acquiring an additional 46,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 692,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,429,000 after purchasing an additional 55,869 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

HWC traded down $0.90 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $58.84. 629,805 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 711,791. The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $41.19 and a 12 month high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

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.