Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 213.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,963 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,229 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HWC. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 707.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,563,000 after purchasing an additional 504,873 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 213.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,663,000 after purchasing an additional 501,259 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 30.9% in the second quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,069,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,141,000 after buying an additional 252,473 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 20.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,015,000 after buying an additional 237,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,197,000 after buying an additional 167,304 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $58.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1-year low of $41.19 and a 1-year high of $62.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $54.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. The business had revenue of $525.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 35.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 54,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,669. The trade was a 13.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.