Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Shares Bought by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,131 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,741 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $1,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth $72,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the second quarter worth $95,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $54.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.02. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 1.27. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $41.19 and a 1 year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens raised Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In other news, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $810,105. The trade was a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.