Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC Shares Acquired by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,837 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,819 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $1,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter worth about $209,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 245.5% in the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 198,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,371,000 after purchasing an additional 140,750 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 3.5% in the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 145,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,873 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the second quarter worth about $410,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 162.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 38,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,190,000 after acquiring an additional 23,609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HWC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total value of $542,784.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 55,733 shares in the company, valued at $3,057,512.38. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $56.57 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 1.11. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 1 year low of $43.90 and a 1 year high of $64.66.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $0.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.32 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 23.99%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.20%.

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.