Allianz Asset Management GmbH Cuts Stock Position in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Allianz Asset Management GmbH cut its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 63.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 71,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 126,235 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $4,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 283,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,764,000 after buying an additional 87,227 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the second quarter valued at approximately $410,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.5% in the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 145,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,359,000 after acquiring an additional 4,873 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 5.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 83.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 850,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,827,000 after purchasing an additional 385,784 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total transaction of $358,415.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,301 shares in the company, valued at $2,283,449.57. This represents a 13.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.25.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $71.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 1.05. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.90 and a twelve month high of $75.43.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $81.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.63 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 11.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 31.69%.

Hancock Whitney 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.