141,648 Shares in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC Bought by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 141,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,584,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.17% of Hancock Whitney as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at about $814,839,000. Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth about $80,246,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,463,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,605,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 18,614.2% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 535,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,071,000 after buying an additional 532,180 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on HWC. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Benchmark lifted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total value of $28,005.72. Following the sale, the director owned 25,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,683,432.56. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 22,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total value of $1,728,828.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,364,108.80. This trade represents a 33.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $78.25 on Wednesday. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 12-month low of $54.05 and a 12-month high of $80.13. The stock has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.55. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 11.36%. The company had revenue of $403.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. Hancock Whitney’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.22%.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.