Wasatch Advisors LP Lowers Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Wasatch Advisors LP lessened its position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 639,625 shares of the company’s stock after selling 70,626 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned approximately 0.74% of Hancock Whitney worth $29,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,192,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,670,000 after buying an additional 95,432 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,749,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,786,000 after purchasing an additional 249,944 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,184,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,822,000 after purchasing an additional 142,465 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,087,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,847,000 after purchasing an additional 48,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth $46,846,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on HWC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hancock Whitney from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $52.00 price target (down from $55.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.88.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

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

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $47.48 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.37. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 52 week low of $32.16 and a 52 week high of $49.65. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.29. 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 (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.10. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 19.07%. The business had revenue of $354.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.15 million. As a group, analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 37.30%.

Hancock Whitney Company 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.