California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 191,032 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,967 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $12,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at $80,246,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth $57,463,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 18,614.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 535,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,071,000 after purchasing an additional 532,180 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 134.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 909,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,941,000 after purchasing an additional 521,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the first quarter valued at about $23,071,000. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total transaction of $28,005.72. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,683,432.56. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HWC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Hovde Group cut Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $76.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.94 and a beta of 0.95. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 12 month low of $54.05 and a 12 month high of $79.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.79.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.55. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 21.81%.The company had revenue of $403.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $398.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 41.07%.

Hancock Whitney Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.