Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Insider Cecil W. Knight, Jr. Sells 844 Shares

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) insider Cecil W. Knight, Jr. sold 844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was 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 $2,755,029.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $46.34 on Thursday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12-month low of $31.02 and a 12-month high of $49.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.15.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 96.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 51,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 25,241 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 108,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,981,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 52,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,431,000 after buying an additional 4,609 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 327,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,060,000 after buying an additional 5,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 2.5% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 24,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on HWC. StockNews.com downgraded Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.71.

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.