Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Stock Position Raised by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 131.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 137,026 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,904 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Hancock Whitney worth $6,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HWC. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 31,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,529,000 after buying an additional 4,125 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 18,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,420 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth $271,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at $1,176,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised Hancock Whitney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.75.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total transaction of $828,068.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 71,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,330,437.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total transaction of $828,068.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 71,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,330,437.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $158,166.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,897.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,183 shares of company stock valued at $1,450,992. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 2.7 %

HWC stock traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $43.90. The company had a trading volume of 199,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 504,381. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1 year low of $31.02 and a 1 year high of $49.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.33.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $308.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $355.51 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 19.07%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.97%.

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.