Arizona State Retirement System Sells 385 Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,658 shares of the company’s stock after selling 385 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $1,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth about $9,517,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 169,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,291,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth $444,000. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1,029.4% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 5,610 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on HWC shares. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.09, for a total transaction of $40,299.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,983.71. This trade represents a 3.51% 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. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $60.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $56.72 and its 200 day moving average is $55.18. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a one year low of $43.90 and a one year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $377.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $375.99 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.28% and a return on equity of 11.21%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.15%.

About Hancock Whitney

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.