Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 1,510 Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,510 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $1,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HWC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth $54,605,000. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth $12,937,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 544,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,795,000 after purchasing an additional 223,275 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,300,000 after purchasing an additional 193,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,097,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $552,539,000 after purchasing an additional 181,706 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HWC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price (down from $72.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.09, for a total value of $40,299.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,983.71. The trade was a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $57.00 on Friday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a one year low of $43.60 and a one year high of $62.40. The company has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. The firm had revenue of $367.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.12 million. Equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 33.21%.

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.