Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Acquires New Stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $671,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 607,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,846,000 after buying an additional 10,157 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 2.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 61,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 12.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 46,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 5,111 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 60.5% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 391,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,517,000 after acquiring an additional 147,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 216.5% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 205,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,779,000 after purchasing an additional 140,583 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 4.2%

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $56.22 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.86. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.90 and a 52 week high of $64.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.18.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $175.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.32 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.99% and a return on equity of 11.29%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total transaction of $542,784.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 55,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,057,512.38. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

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.