Fourthstone LLC Invests $517,000 in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Fourthstone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HWC. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 268.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 985 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In related news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $59.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 251,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,248. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12-month low of $39.38 and a 12-month high of $62.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.99 and a 200-day moving average of $50.76. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 35.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on HWC shares. DA Davidson raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.