Christine L. Pickering Sells 763 Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,343.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 1.2 %

HWC traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $53.14. 410,430 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 504,280. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.08. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1 year low of $33.91 and a 1 year high of $57.78.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on HWC. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.89.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,226,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,801,000 after purchasing an additional 34,152 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 167,304 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,015,000 after acquiring an additional 237,526 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,069,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,141,000 after acquiring an additional 252,473 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 20.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 780,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,350,000 after purchasing an additional 135,076 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.