6,190 Shares in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Purchased by GTS Securities LLC

GTS Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth about $54,605,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth $24,775,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at $13,796,000. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at about $12,937,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 544,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,795,000 after purchasing an additional 223,275 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on HWC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $62.00 price objective (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hancock Whitney from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.25.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock traded down $0.33 on Friday, hitting $54.83. 564,700 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 597,429. The company has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $52.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.30. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12-month low of $43.60 and a 12-month high of $62.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.10. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. The firm had revenue of $367.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.12 million. Analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Hancock Whitney's payout ratio is currently 33.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.09, for a total value of $40,299.42. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,983.71. This represents a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

About Hancock Whitney

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.