CSM Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

CSM Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 158,719 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,126 shares during the quarter. CSM Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $9,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amundi purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth about $50,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 287,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,078,000 after purchasing an additional 11,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 951.9% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 123,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,494,000 after purchasing an additional 112,042 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HWC shares. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays started coverage on Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.63.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $61.91 on Friday. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.90 and a twelve month high of $75.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $68.23 and its 200 day moving average is $63.83.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $81.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.63 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 11.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total value of $358,415.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 33,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,283,449.57. This represents a 13.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.