California Public Employees Retirement System Buys 24,718 Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 18th, 2023

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC – Get Rating) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,379 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,718 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.15% of Hancock Whitney worth $6,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 19,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 6,749 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 285.0% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 20,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 15,006 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at $771,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at $1,054,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.8% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 56,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sonia Perez purchased 2,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $36.54 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.98. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,459.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HWC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James lowered their price target on Hancock Whitney from $58.00 to $45.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hancock Whitney in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $58.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Friday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC opened at $35.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 52 week low of $31.02 and a 52 week high of $57.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.45. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 15.73% and a net margin of 32.92%. The firm had revenue of $452.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.44 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 2nd. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.90%.

Hancock Whitney Profile

(Get Rating)

Hancock Whitney Corp. operates as a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It also offers trust and investment management services to retirement plans, corporations, individuals, brokerage services, annuity products, life insurance, general insurance and agency services, including life, title insurance and consumer financing service.