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Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Defense World · Sep 18, 2022 05:41

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC – Get Rating) saw a significant decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,890,000 shares, a decline of 12.1% from the August 15th total of 2,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 368,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company's stock are short sold.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $49.89 on Friday. Hancock Whitney has a 12 month low of $41.62 and a 12 month high of $59.82. The stock's 50 day moving average is $48.44 and its 200-day moving average is $48.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 1.38.

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Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 19th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 38.60%. The company had revenue of $331.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $331.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 6th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 2nd. Hancock Whitney's payout ratio is 18.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cecil W. Knight, Jr. sold 1,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.24, for a total value of $61,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,260 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,002.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 26,473 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total value of $1,248,201.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 201,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,506,995.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cecil W. Knight, Jr. sold 1,250 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.24, for a total value of $61,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,002.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 92,332 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,093,000 after buying an additional 2,742 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 24.8% in the second quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 263,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,666,000 after buying an additional 52,213 shares during the period. Prelude Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at approximately $663,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 277.0% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,548 shares of the company's stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 7,750 shares during the period. Finally, rhino investment partners Inc boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.1% in the second quarter. rhino investment partners Inc now owns 178,273 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,903,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 79.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HWC. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Hancock Whitney from $63.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 11th. StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 20th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $58.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.00.

About Hancock Whitney

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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 accepts various deposit products, including noninterest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, and time deposit accounts.