Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Shares Bought by Clifford Capital Partners LLC

Clifford Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 12.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,434 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth about $357,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 52.2% during the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 9,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 3,419 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 72.6% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 151,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,353,000 after acquiring an additional 63,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frank E. Bertucci sold 2,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $117,082.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,286,254.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HWC shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.67.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $49.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.98. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12 month low of $32.16 and a 12 month high of $57.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.11. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 18.63%. The firm had revenue of $359.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 37.30%.

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.