Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Shares Sold by Corebridge Financial Inc.

Corebridge Financial Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 139,926 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,941 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $7,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HWC. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 10,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,097,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,539,000 after acquiring an additional 181,706 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth approximately $930,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth approximately $449,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 40,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $53.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.30. Hancock Whitney Co. has a twelve month low of $41.56 and a twelve month high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

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.