Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,850,021 shares of the company’s stock after selling 247,542 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.44% of Hancock Whitney worth $516,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 554.6% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 1,132.1% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 115.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at about $92,000. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on HWC shares. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.71.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $61.23 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $58.34 and a 200-day moving average of $55.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 1.11. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.90 and a 1-year high of $62.90.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 23.28%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.15%.

Hancock Whitney Company 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.