VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New Investment in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems purchased 50,901 Hancock Whitney shares worth approximately $3.8 million, giving it a 0.06% stake; institutional investors collectively own 81.22% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Hancock Whitney receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $83.78, despite one recent downgrade to “Market Perform.”
• Hancock Whitney reported quarterly EPS of $1.55 and revenue of $403.57 million, up 6.9% year over year, and declared a $0.50 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.7% annual yield.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 50,901 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,803,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned 0.06% of Hancock Whitney at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HWC. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 8.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the company's stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,555,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,472 shares of the company's stock worth $539,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other news, CFO Michael Achary sold 22,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.18, for a total transaction of $1,728,828.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,160 shares in the company, valued at $3,364,108.80. This represents a 33.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Emory L. Mayfield, Jr. sold 4,990 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total transaction of $381,236.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,189,166. This represents a 24.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on HWC. Hovde Group lowered Hancock Whitney from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Hancock Whitney from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $83.78.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $74.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50-day moving average is $76.33 and its 200-day moving average is $70.42. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a one year low of $54.05 and a one year high of $80.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.55. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 21.81%.The firm had revenue of $403.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $398.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.22%.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation NASDAQ: HWC is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company's core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.

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