Virtus Advisers LLC Acquires New Shares in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 9,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at $814,839,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,790,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,652,000 after purchasing an additional 21,655 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,521,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,935,000 after purchasing an additional 126,367 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at about $80,246,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 920,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,595,000 after buying an additional 162,482 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $75.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $75.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.11. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 1-year low of $54.05 and a 1-year high of $80.13.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.55. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 21.81%.The business had revenue of $403.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $398.89 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.44 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 39.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 22,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total transaction of $1,728,828.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,364,108.80. This represents a 33.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on HWC shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.78.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.