Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Takes Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HWC. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 707.2% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,563,000 after purchasing an additional 504,873 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 213.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,663,000 after acquiring an additional 501,259 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,069,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,141,000 after acquiring an additional 252,473 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,401,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,015,000 after acquiring an additional 237,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,197,000 after acquiring an additional 167,304 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $58.45 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. Hancock Whitney Co. has a one year low of $39.38 and a one year high of $61.41.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $810,105. This represents a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.