Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on HWC. 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 report on Wednesday. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 0.5 %

HWC traded down $0.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $59.41. 655,283 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 753,413. The stock has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $57.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.77. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $41.19 and a twelve month high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.66% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $39,981.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the third quarter worth $72,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 170.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. 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.