Cetera Investment Advisers Has $2.28 Million Stock Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Cetera Investment Advisers cut its holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,664 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,309 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $2,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on HWC. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stephens reduced their target price on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.25.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $56.77 on Monday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.60 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.39.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. The business had revenue of $367.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.12 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.21%.

Insider Activity

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.09, for a total value of $40,299.42. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,983.71. The trade was a 3.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hancock Whitney 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.