Allianz Asset Management GmbH Acquires 140,750 Shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 245.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 198,093 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 140,750 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $11,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 199,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 5.1% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 607,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,846,000 after purchasing an additional 10,157 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth $281,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 6.8% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,027,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,139,000 after purchasing an additional 128,860 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total value of $542,784.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,057,512.38. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $56.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 1 year low of $43.90 and a 1 year high of $64.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.66.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $0.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.32 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 23.99%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HWC shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Hancock Whitney from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $69.86.

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.