Insider Selling: Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) Director Sells $28,005.72 in Stock

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) Director Christine Pickering sold 417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.16, for a total transaction of $28,005.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,683,432.56. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $67.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.06 and a 200-day moving average of $65.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 12 month low of $52.89 and a 12 month high of $75.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 0.97.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.04. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 21.34% and a return on equity of 11.20%. The company had revenue of $393.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.01 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Hancock Whitney’s revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 41.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.6% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.9% during the first quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 31.0% during the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on HWC shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.14.

About Hancock Whitney

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.