Vest Financial LLC Acquires 23,609 Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 162.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 38,154 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 23,609 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $2,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Amundi purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth about $50,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 115.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 15.4% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $62.53 on Wednesday. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.90 and a 52 week high of $64.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.44.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.28% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The business had revenue of $0.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HWC. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $63.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.00.

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.