Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $61.88 and last traded at $61.64, with a volume of 2223 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $59.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HWC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.89.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 1.1 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $53.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.25.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.87%.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 707.2% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,563,000 after purchasing an additional 504,873 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 213.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,663,000 after buying an additional 501,259 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings 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 valued at $51,141,000 after buying an additional 252,473 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 20.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,015,000 after acquiring an additional 237,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 149.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,435,000 after acquiring an additional 192,295 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.