Bessemer Group Inc. Has $28.67 Million Position in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 126,754.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 457,944 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 457,583 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $28,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the second quarter worth about $410,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.5% in the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 145,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,359,000 after buying an additional 4,873 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 5.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 83.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 850,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,827,000 after acquiring an additional 385,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at $544,000. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HWC. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.25.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $74.41 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.52. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.90 and a 12-month high of $75.43. The company has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $81.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.63 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 11.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 31.69%.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total value of $358,415.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 33,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,283,449.57. The trade was a 13.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney 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.