BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $1.48 Million Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) by 48.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 27,012 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,917 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $1,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,911 shares of the company's stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the company's stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,581 shares of the company's stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,121 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on HWC. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $62.00 target price (down from $72.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Hancock Whitney from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.09, for a total value of $40,299.42. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,983.71. This trade represents a 3.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Hancock Whitney stock traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $54.25. 509,125 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 596,398. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.43. Hancock Whitney Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.60 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $367.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.12 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. On average, research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.21%.

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.