Jane Street Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Jane Street Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 50.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 92,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 96,302 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned about 0.11% of Hancock Whitney worth $4,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HWC. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 268.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 985 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 54,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,669. This represents a 13.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of HWC opened at $56.97 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12 month low of $41.19 and a 12 month high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 35.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on HWC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens raised shares of Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney 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.