18,204 Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 91.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,622 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,204 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $117,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of HWC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the second quarter worth about $814,839,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,790,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,652,000 after buying an additional 21,655 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at about $55,605,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at about $52,973,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,112,000. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HWC shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Stephens reduced their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.56.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other news, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total value of $381,236.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,166. This represents a 24.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $71.99 on Monday. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 12 month low of $55.11 and a 12 month high of $80.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66. The firm had revenue of $421.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $421.75 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 20.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 40.24%.

Hancock Whitney Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi, and the parent company of Hancock Whitney Bank. The bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through branches and digital banking channels.

Its products and services include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial lending, residential mortgages, credit cards, treasury and cash management services, and online and mobile banking.