Rafferty Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,506 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,650 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned 0.12% of Hancock Whitney worth $5,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth about $92,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth about $13,796,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 28,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 8,303 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth about $624,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HWC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective (down from $72.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.25.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $56.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $51.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.37. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 52-week low of $43.60 and a 52-week high of $62.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.05. 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 (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. The firm had revenue of $367.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.12 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 33.21%.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.09, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hancock Whitney 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.