Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,239 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.50% of Hancock Whitney worth $110,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 3.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,980,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,197,000 after purchasing an additional 167,304 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,917,000 after acquiring an additional 73,316 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,154,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,093,000 after acquiring an additional 46,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,069,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,141,000 after purchasing an additional 252,473 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HWC. Stephens raised Hancock Whitney from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,105. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 54,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,669. This trade represents a 13.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC opened at $53.69 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney Co. has a one year low of $41.19 and a one year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.87%.

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.