First Trust Advisors LP Has $48.83 Million Stock Holdings in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 83.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 850,639 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 385,784 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $48,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HWC. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.7% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 607,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,846,000 after acquiring an additional 10,157 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 60.5% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 391,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,517,000 after purchasing an additional 147,526 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $410,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 145,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 5.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In related news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total value of $542,784.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 55,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,057,512.38. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.5%

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $63.60 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $59.31 and its 200 day moving average is $59.38. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.90 and a 12-month high of $64.66.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $175.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.32 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 23.99% and a return on equity of 11.29%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 32.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HWC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Monday, December 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $70.14.

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.