Northern Trust Corp Reduces Stock Position in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its shares in Hancock Whitney Corporation by 3.6%, selling 45,455 shares during the first quarter, now holding approximately 1.42% of the company valued at $63.97 million.
• Hancock Whitney recently beat earnings estimates with reported earnings per share of $1.37, surpassing consensus expectations of $1.36 and showcasing revenues of $377.98 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.9%, with shareholders of record set to receive this on September 15th.

Northern Trust Corp trimmed its holdings in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,219,691 shares of the company's stock after selling 45,455 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.42% of Hancock Whitney worth $63,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of HWC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 169.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,329 shares of the company's stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 6,494 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 14,572 shares of the company's stock worth $797,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,921 shares of the company's stock worth $3,498,000 after acquiring an additional 5,992 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,280 shares of the company's stock worth $72,300,000 after acquiring an additional 193,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 155.3% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 66,045 shares of the company's stock worth $3,614,000 after acquiring an additional 40,179 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $63.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Hovde Group increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.63.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Hancock Whitney stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $63.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 453,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,731. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $59.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

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