William Blair Investment Management LLC Makes New $33.39 Million Investment in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Aug 23rd, 2026

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC – Free Report) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 446,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,393,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HWC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $814,839,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,790,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,652,000 after purchasing an additional 21,655 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,521,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,935,000 after purchasing an additional 126,367 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,246,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 920,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,595,000 after purchasing an additional 162,482 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 22,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total value of $1,728,828.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,364,108.80. This represents a 33.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total value of $381,236.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,166. This represents a 24.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $75.38 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $75.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.15. The firm has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 0.95. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 52 week low of $54.05 and a 52 week high of $80.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 11.36%. The company had revenue of $403.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.89 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Hancock Whitney’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.78.

View Our Latest Analysis on Hancock Whitney

About Hancock Whitney

(Free Report)

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.