Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Shares Bought by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,845 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 19,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 3,755 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 1,987.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 51,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after purchasing an additional 48,957 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth about $272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HWC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In related news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 1.5 %

HWC stock opened at $58.84 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.28. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney Co. has a twelve month low of $41.19 and a twelve month high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 34.09%.

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.