First Trust Advisors LP Sells 9,636 Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 841,003 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,636 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $52,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 44.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 283,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,764,000 after buying an additional 87,227 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth about $1,169,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 26.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 348,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,850,000 after acquiring an additional 72,433 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter worth about $544,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 126,754.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 457,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,671,000 after acquiring an additional 457,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays initiated coverage on Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total value of $358,415.39. Following the transaction, the insider owned 33,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of HWC stock opened at $62.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 1.05. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.90 and a 52-week high of $75.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.85.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 11.16%. The firm had revenue of $81.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 35.21%.

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.