AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 213.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 735,790 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 501,259 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $34,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 268.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frank E. Bertucci sold 2,053 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $117,082.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,286,254.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $50.43 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.26. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12-month low of $32.16 and a 12-month high of $57.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.87.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $359.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.11 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HWC has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.67.

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.