Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,271,890 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,887 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 1.49% of Hancock Whitney worth $61,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 72.6% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 151,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,353,000 after buying an additional 63,641 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 710,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,511,000 after buying an additional 25,215 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 832,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,791,000 after buying an additional 96,522 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 122,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,516,000 after buying an additional 4,886 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,045,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HWC shares. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $52.00 price objective (down previously from $55.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.88.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $44.67 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 52 week low of $32.16 and a 52 week high of $49.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.30.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.10. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.07% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The business had revenue of $354.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.15 million. On average, research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cecil W. Knight, Jr. sold 844 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.82, for a total transaction of $39,516.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,755,029.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Cecil W. Knight, Jr. sold 844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.82, for a total transaction of $39,516.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,755,029.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.62, for a total transaction of $59,306.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,982 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,058.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hancock Whitney Profile

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.