Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $6.66 Million Stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) by 131.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,026 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 77,904 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.16% of Hancock Whitney worth $6,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,107,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $464,688,000 after buying an additional 42,241 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,044,067 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,308,000 after buying an additional 103,751 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,567,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,218,000 after buying an additional 596,516 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 4,264,159 shares of the company's stock worth $189,030,000 after purchasing an additional 21,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,298,200 shares of the company's stock worth $122,000,000 after purchasing an additional 109,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of HWC stock traded up $1.54 on Friday, reaching $44.27. 601,286 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 510,037. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.33. Hancock Whitney Co. has a one year low of $31.02 and a one year high of $49.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.43.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $308.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $355.51 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 19.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HWC. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, March 31st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $52.00 price target (down previously from $55.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.75.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total value of $828,068.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 71,148 shares in the company, valued at $3,330,437.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hancock Whitney news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total value of $828,068.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 71,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,330,437.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph S. Exnicios sold 9,857 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.15, for a total value of $464,757.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,421,996.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,183 shares of company stock worth $1,450,992. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.