Fourthstone LLC Takes $517,000 Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Fourthstone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 10,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 246,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,613,000 after buying an additional 15,703 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 4.8% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 201.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 51,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,657,000 after acquiring an additional 34,719 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter worth about $2,313,000. Finally, Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 9,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of HWC traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $59.94. The stock had a trading volume of 251,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,248. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.99 and a 200 day moving average of $50.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 1.25. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12 month low of $39.38 and a 12 month high of $62.40.

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

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,105. This represents a 4.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.