Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC Shares Sold by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 186,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 51,412 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $11,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HWC. Amundi acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter valued at $50,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,255 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 287,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,078,000 after acquiring an additional 11,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 951.9% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 123,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,494,000 after purchasing an additional 112,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on HWC shares. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.25.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $68.78 on Friday. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a one year low of $43.90 and a one year high of $71.20. The company has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.01.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 11.16%. The business had revenue of $81.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 31.69%.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In other news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total transaction of $358,415.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,283,449.57. This represents a 13.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.