AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has increased its stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation by 1.1%, owning a total of 1,335,997 shares valued at approximately $69 million.
• Hancock Whitney announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, representing a yield of 2.9%, with an ex-dividend date set for September 5th.
• Recent analyst reports have resulted in varied ratings, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgrading the stock, while Citigroup raised its price target for Hancock Whitney.

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,335,997 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,717 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 1.56% of Hancock Whitney worth $69,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 50.4% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth $43,019,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter valued at $38,163,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at about $24,775,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 294.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 391,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,531,000 after purchasing an additional 292,097 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HWC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.25.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC traded up $0.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $63.47. 959,134 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 629,880. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 52-week low of $43.90 and a 52-week high of $64.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.13. The business's fifty day moving average is $60.92 and its 200-day moving average is $55.91.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $377.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $375.99 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.28% and a return on equity of 11.21%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.