Bayforest Capital Ltd Takes $425,000 Position in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation ($HWC), purchasing 8,104 shares valued at approximately $425,000.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their positions in HWC, with significant stakes being raised by Versant Capital Management Inc and UMB Bank n.a.
• Hancock Whitney announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, reflecting an annual dividend yield of 2.9% and a payout ratio of 33.15%.

Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 50.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,057,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,869 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,089,454 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,592,000 after acquiring an additional 235,363 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,027,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,139,000 after acquiring an additional 128,860 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,465,661 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,335,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,044,000 after acquiring an additional 14,717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HWC. Citigroup increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Hovde Group increased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.25.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of HWC traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $62.88. The company had a trading volume of 456,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 713,705. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.90 and a twelve month high of $64.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company's 50-day moving average is $60.96 and its 200-day moving average is $55.96. The company has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.13.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $377.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $375.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.15%.

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.