Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 54,382 Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 870,288 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,382 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $55,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 67.6% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 84,400.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HWC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.63.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $66.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.02. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 52 week low of $47.39 and a 52 week high of $75.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.45 and a 200 day moving average of $63.99.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total transaction of $358,415.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,283,449.57. This represents a 13.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

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.