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

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) was the target of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,250,000 shares, a decline of 5.1% from the December 15th total of 2,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 529,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of Hancock Whitney 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,343.20. The trade was a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth $205,000. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth about $272,000. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 72,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,978,000 after buying an additional 7,725 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at about $223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $59.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $41.19 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HWC. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.63.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.