Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 24.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,933 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,024 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.17% of Hancock Whitney worth $8,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth about $54,605,000. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,937,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 544,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,795,000 after acquiring an additional 223,275 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,097,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,539,000 after acquiring an additional 181,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth $9,517,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.09, for a total value of $40,299.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,983.71. This represents a 3.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HWC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.56.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of HWC stock opened at $52.87 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $51.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Hancock Whitney Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.60 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $367.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.12 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. Research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.21%.

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.