Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Makes New $43.02 Million Investment in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 820,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,019,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.95% of Hancock Whitney as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HWC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth $54,605,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth about $24,775,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at about $13,796,000. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,937,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 69.5% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 544,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,795,000 after buying an additional 223,275 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 838 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.09, for a total transaction of $40,299.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,983.71. This trade represents a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $60.24 on Friday. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a one year low of $43.90 and a one year high of $62.40. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $56.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.05.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.28% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The business had revenue of $377.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $375.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HWC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens dropped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Hovde Group upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.71.

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.

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