Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV reduced its position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,723 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,150 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HWC. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings 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 valued at $31,846,000 after acquiring an additional 10,157 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,111 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 60.5% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 391,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,517,000 after purchasing an additional 147,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the second quarter valued at $410,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total value of $542,784.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 55,733 shares in the company, valued at $3,057,512.38. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

HWC opened at $56.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.81 and its 200-day moving average is $58.86. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.18. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.90 and a twelve month high of $64.66.

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

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

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

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.