Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC Shares Bought by MetLife Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation by 294% in Q1, acquiring a total of 391,446 shares valued at approximately $20.53 million.
• The stock has seen positive performance with a market cap of $5.38 billion and a recent EPS of $1.37, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• Hancock Whitney recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, reflecting an annual dividend yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 33.15%.

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) by 294.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 391,446 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 292,097 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.45% of Hancock Whitney worth $20,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HWC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 169.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,329 shares of the company's stock worth $565,000 after buying an additional 6,494 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 14,572 shares of the company's stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,921 shares of the company's stock worth $3,498,000 after buying an additional 5,992 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,265,146 shares of the company's stock worth $69,229,000 after buying an additional 66,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,280 shares of the company's stock worth $72,300,000 after buying an additional 193,028 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWC traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.92. The company had a trading volume of 421,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,611. 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 quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.63. The firm has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.11.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 23.28%.The firm had revenue of $377.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $375.99 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on HWC. Wall Street Zen lowered Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One research 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.com, the stock presently 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.