Strs Ohio Acquires Shares of 13,400 Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Key Points

• Strs Ohio purchased 13,400 shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation, valued at approximately $703,000, signifying growing institutional interest in the bank.
• Multiple equities analysts have given Hancock Whitney a consensus rating of "Buy", with an average price target of $70.00.
• Hancock Whitney announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, reflecting a 2.8% dividend yield based on its current payout ratio of 33.15%.

Strs Ohio bought a new position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 13,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 50.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,057,103 shares of the company's stock worth $160,345,000 after buying an additional 1,024,869 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 12.7% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,089,454 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,592,000 after purchasing an additional 235,363 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 6.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,027,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,139,000 after purchasing an additional 128,860 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,465,661 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,315 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,335,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,044,000 after purchasing an additional 14,717 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC traded down $1.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $62.50. 409,105 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 726,983. The company's 50 day moving average price is $61.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.90 and a 52 week high of $64.66. The firm has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 1.13.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 23.28%.The company had revenue of $377.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $375.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Hancock Whitney's payout ratio is presently 33.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on HWC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $62.00 to $63.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.00.

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.