Martingale Asset Management L P Cuts Stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P significantly reduced its stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation by 56.0% during the first quarter, owning 14,392 shares valued at approximately $755,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Versant Capital Management Inc and UMB Bank n.a., have increased their positions in Hancock Whitney, indicating growing interest from institutional players.
• Equities analysts have mixed sentiments on Hancock Whitney, with price targets ranging from $67.00 to $72.00 and a generally favorable rating of "Moderate Buy" despite a recent downgrade to "sell" from Wall Street Zen.

Martingale Asset Management L P lowered its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) by 56.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,392 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,282 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 554.6% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 707 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1,132.1% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 998 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 115.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Hovde Group increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.71.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $63.49 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.11. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 1 year low of $43.90 and a 1 year high of $63.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.15%.

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.

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