Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC Shares Sold by Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP

Key Points

• Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP has significantly reduced its stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation by 60.8%, selling 6,465 shares during the first quarter.
• Multiple analysts have issued new price targets for Hancock Whitney, with Hovde Group raising its target from $65.00 to $72.00 and Raymond James maintaining a "strong-buy" rating.
• Hancock Whitney recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 2.8%.

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP cut its stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) by 60.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,166 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,465 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP's holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 0.8% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 24,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,264,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.7% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 10,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.5% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 20,640 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $63.15. The company had a trading volume of 89,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 713,785. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.64 and a 200 day moving average of $55.61. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $43.90 and a fifty-two week high of $64.25. 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 (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $377.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $375.99 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.28% and a return on equity of 11.21%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. 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 is presently 33.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on HWC. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.63.

Hancock Whitney Company 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.