William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 35,593 Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 587,171 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,593 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.70% of Hancock Whitney worth $36,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HWC. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 929.5% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 453 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 6,107.7% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 807 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the period. Amundi bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 78.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on HWC shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. DA Davidson upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.63.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 5.9%

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $65.81 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.79. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.90 and a 52 week high of $75.43.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.16% and a net margin of 24.05%.The business had revenue of $81.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 31.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total value of $358,415.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 33,301 shares in the company, valued at $2,283,449.57. The trade was a 13.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.