Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 37.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,554 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,416 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney comprises 0.9% of Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $4,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 213.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,663,000 after acquiring an additional 501,259 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,069,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,141,000 after acquiring an additional 252,473 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,015,000 after acquiring an additional 237,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,197,000 after purchasing an additional 167,304 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HWC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.89.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $61.04 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 1.25. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1-year low of $39.38 and a 1-year high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.87%.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,343.20. This represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,857,669. This represents a 13.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.