Quest Partners LLC Raises Stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 174.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,863 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,625 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 268.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 985 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HWC. Hovde Group increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.78.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $49.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.24. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1 year low of $32.16 and a 1 year high of $57.78.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $359.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.11 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 18.63%. Hancock Whitney’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.30%.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

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

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.