StockNews.com Downgrades Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) to Sell

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

HWC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $58.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney has a 1-year low of $41.19 and a 1-year high of $62.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $57.32 and a 200-day moving average of $53.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hancock Whitney

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,917,000 after purchasing an additional 73,316 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,016,000 after buying an additional 30,239 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,154,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,093,000 after acquiring an additional 46,622 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 780,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,350,000 after purchasing an additional 135,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 213.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,663,000 after buying an additional 501,259 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.