Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 107,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,012,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amundi purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,255 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 22.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 287,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,078,000 after acquiring an additional 11,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 951.9% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 123,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,494,000 after acquiring an additional 112,042 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.78.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 1.7%

HWC stock opened at $73.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.24 and its 200 day moving average is $70.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.94. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 1-year low of $54.05 and a 1-year high of $80.13.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 11.36%. The business had revenue of $403.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $398.89 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. Hancock Whitney’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total transaction of $381,236.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,166. The trade was a 24.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 22,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total transaction of $1,728,828.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 44,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,364,108.80. This trade represents a 33.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Company 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.