Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Position Lowered by Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lessened its holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 332,577 shares of the company’s stock after selling 274,662 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $18,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HWC. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised 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 acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $138,000. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.09, for a total value of $40,299.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,983.71. The trade was a 3.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on HWC. StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price target (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $62.00 target price (down from $72.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of HWC stock opened at $54.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 0.99. 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 fifty day moving average price of $51.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.12. Hancock Whitney Co. has a one year low of $43.60 and a one year high of $62.40.

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

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 33.21%.

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.