William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires 47,297 Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 634,468 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,297 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $40,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 283,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,764,000 after purchasing an additional 87,227 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,169,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 348,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,850,000 after purchasing an additional 72,433 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 126,754.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 457,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,671,000 after purchasing an additional 457,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,094,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC opened at $67.50 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 1 year low of $52.89 and a 1 year high of $75.43. The firm has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 0.97.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.04. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.20% and a net margin of 21.34%.The business had revenue of $393.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.01 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. Hancock Whitney’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Hancock Whitney from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research lowered Hancock Whitney from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.14.

Hancock Whitney Company 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.