Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Boosts Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,074 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $1,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 0.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,107,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,688,000 after buying an additional 42,241 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,044,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,308,000 after buying an additional 103,751 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 15.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,567,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,218,000 after buying an additional 596,516 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 0.5% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 4,264,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,030,000 after buying an additional 21,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 3.4% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,298,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000,000 after buying an additional 109,016 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total transaction of $828,068.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 71,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,330,437.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $158,166.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,285 shares in the company, valued at $1,534,897.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO D Shane Loper sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.81, for a total value of $828,068.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 71,148 shares in the company, valued at $3,330,437.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,183 shares of company stock valued at $1,450,992 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HWC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised Hancock Whitney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $48.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.71.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of HWC stock opened at $44.27 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.49. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1-year low of $31.02 and a 1-year high of $49.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 19.07%. The firm had revenue of $308.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.97%.

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.