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

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,960,000 shares, an increase of 10.7% from the July 15th total of 1,770,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 509,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HWC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.78.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of HWC traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $50.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 32,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 500,418. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.01 and its 200-day moving average is $46.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Hancock Whitney has a 52-week low of $32.16 and a 52-week high of $57.78.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.11. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 18.63%. The firm had revenue of $359.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $359.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Frank E. Bertucci sold 2,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $117,082.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,286,254.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 72.6% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 151,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,353,000 after acquiring an additional 63,641 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the first quarter valued at about $1,159,000. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 710,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,511,000 after purchasing an additional 25,215 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 96.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 51,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 25,241 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,226,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,801,000 after buying an additional 34,152 shares during the last quarter. 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.