Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $479,000 Investment in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 9,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,226,780 shares of the company's stock valued at $424,801,000 after purchasing an additional 34,152 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at $844,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 102,103 shares of the company's stock worth $4,884,000 after buying an additional 26,705 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 59,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,746,000 after acquiring an additional 10,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,605,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,105. This trade represents a 4.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 54,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,669. This represents a 13.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report 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 research note on Friday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.89.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Hancock Whitney stock traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.45. 508,068 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 508,665. The stock has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's 50 day moving average is $52.52 and its 200 day moving average is $50.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 52-week low of $39.38 and a 52-week high of $61.41.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. Analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.87%.

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.