EP Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New $521,000 Investment in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $521,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the second quarter worth approximately $814,839,000. Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,246,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,463,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,605,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 18,614.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 535,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,071,000 after buying an additional 532,180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stephens reduced their target price on Hancock Whitney from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Benchmark raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group cut shares of Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.78.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In related news, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total transaction of $381,236.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,166. This represents a 24.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 22,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were 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 owned 44,160 shares in the company, valued at $3,364,108.80. This represents a 33.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ HWC opened at $74.86 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 0.95. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $54.05 and a fifty-two week high of $80.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $403.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.22%.

Hancock Whitney 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.