Short Interest in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Expands By 7.2%

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,370,000 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the November 30th total of 2,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 521,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James raised Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens raised Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $54.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.59. Hancock Whitney has a 12-month low of $41.19 and a 12-month high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. The firm had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,343.20. This represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,105. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 707.2% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,563,000 after purchasing an additional 504,873 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 213.7% in the second 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 during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,069,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,141,000 after purchasing an additional 252,473 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,015,000 after purchasing an additional 237,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 149.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,435,000 after purchasing an additional 192,295 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.