Insider Selling: Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) CFO Sells 8,431 Shares of Stock

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total transaction of $443,049.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 54,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,669. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $51.33 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12 month low of $32.16 and a 12 month high of $57.78.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 37.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HWC shares. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.89.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,226,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,801,000 after purchasing an additional 34,152 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,197,000 after purchasing an additional 167,304 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 20.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,015,000 after buying an additional 237,526 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 30.9% in the second quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,069,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,141,000 after buying an additional 252,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 20.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 780,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,350,000 after buying an additional 135,076 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.