AlphaQuest LLC Sells 11,550 Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

AlphaQuest LLC decreased its position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 35.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,222 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,550 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $1,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HWC. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 199,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 5.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 607,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,846,000 after purchasing an additional 10,157 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of 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. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 61,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,226,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC opened at $55.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 1.11. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $43.90 and a one year high of $64.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.52 and a 200 day moving average of $57.86.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $0.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.32 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 23.99%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HWC shares. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Hovde Group upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.86.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total transaction of $542,784.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,057,512.38. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

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.