Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Decreases Stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,570 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $2,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 50.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,057,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,345,000 after buying an additional 1,024,869 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,089,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,592,000 after acquiring an additional 235,363 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,027,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,139,000 after purchasing an additional 128,860 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,465,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,335,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,044,000 after acquiring an additional 14,717 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HWC has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Hovde Group increased 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, July 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $70.00.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $63.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.25. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.90 and a 52-week high of $64.66.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.28% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The company had revenue of $377.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $375.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 33.15%.

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.