Short Interest in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Drops By 5.1%

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,250,000 shares, a decline of 5.1% from the December 31st total of 2,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 529,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HWC. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 149.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,435,000 after buying an additional 192,295 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,072,000 after acquiring an additional 163,438 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 21.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,227,000 after acquiring an additional 96,092 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted 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 worth $219,917,000 after purchasing an additional 73,316 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 8.8% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 692,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,429,000 after purchasing an additional 55,869 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HWC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ HWC traded down $0.90 during trading on Monday, hitting $58.84. 629,805 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 711,791. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $41.19 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $57.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.28.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.30%.

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.