iSAM Funds UK Ltd Purchases Shares of 13,230 Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 707.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,563,000 after buying an additional 504,873 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 213.7% during the 2nd 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 raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 30.9% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $67,015,000 after purchasing an additional 237,526 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 3.5% in 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.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,343.20. This represents a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 54,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,669. The trade was a 13.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $58.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.22 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.19 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $54.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HWC. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

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.