Wasatch Advisors LP Cuts Position in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Wasatch Advisors LP lessened its position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 2.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 506,999 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,016 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $37,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,790,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,652,000 after purchasing an additional 21,655 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,521,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,935,000 after buying an additional 126,367 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,246,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 920,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,595,000 after buying an additional 162,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 134.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 909,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,941,000 after buying an additional 521,261 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.78.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC opened at $78.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.61. The firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.95. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 1 year low of $54.05 and a 1 year high of $79.36.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.55. The firm had revenue of $403.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $398.89 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 21.81%.The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 22,694 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total transaction of $1,728,828.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,364,108.80. This represents a 33.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total transaction of $28,005.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,683,432.56. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.92% 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.