Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Cuts Stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 42.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,870 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,821 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $2,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1,132.1% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 917 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 1st quarter valued at $763,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 11,191.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,110,000 after acquiring an additional 64,462 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 18,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 554.6% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 707 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was 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. The trade was a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $54.96 on Tuesday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.60 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.09.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $367.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.12 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective 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. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $62.00 price target (down from $72.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.25.

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.