Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases Shares of 234,722 Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 234,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,538,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Man Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the second quarter worth about $543,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the second quarter worth about $2,556,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,051,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,012,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,112,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 22,694 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,364,108.80. This trade represents a 33.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total transaction of $381,236.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,166. The trade was a 24.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 12th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.78.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $75.23 on Thursday. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.05 and a 52-week high of $80.13. The company has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.19.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.55. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 21.81%.The firm had revenue of $403.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $398.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.22%.

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.