Fmr LLC Reduces Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Fmr LLC lowered its position in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 32.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115,367 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,482 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned about 0.13% of Hancock Whitney worth $5,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HWC. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter worth $844,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 66.7% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,605,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 102,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,884,000 after purchasing an additional 26,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $508,000. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HWC has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of HWC opened at $57.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.61. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1 year low of $41.19 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced 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 net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.54 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 35.87%.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $39,981.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by 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.