Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Director Christine L. Pickering Sells 1,300 Shares of Stock

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Director Christine L. Pickering sold 1,300 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.62, for a total value of $59,306.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,982 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,058.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $46.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 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.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 27.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,192,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,670,000 after purchasing an additional 95,432 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,749,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,786,000 after buying an additional 249,944 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.4% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,298,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000,000 after buying an additional 109,016 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 7.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,184,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,822,000 after buying an additional 142,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 7.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,102,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,755,000 after acquiring an additional 148,542 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HWC. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $52.00 price target (down previously from $55.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $48.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.71.

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.