Stephens Inc. AR Buys New Position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC)

Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 199,532 shares of the company's stock worth $10,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 5.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,016 shares of the company's stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth $624,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 1st quarter valued at $281,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,027,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,139,000 after buying an additional 128,860 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Hovde Group lifted 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. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.71.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ HWC traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $60.51. The company had a trading volume of 789,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 857,214. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.98 and a 200 day moving average of $55.34. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.90 and a 1-year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $375.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. Hancock Whitney's payout ratio is 33.15%.

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.