Quest Partners LLC Has $1.69 Million Stock Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,106 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $1,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 105.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 74,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,824,000 after purchasing an additional 38,398 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth approximately $508,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at approximately $479,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,605,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $472,000. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $57.47 on Tuesday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12-month low of $39.38 and a 12-month high of $61.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.23. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 35.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

About Hancock Whitney

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.