Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) by 31.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 200,428 shares of the company's stock after selling 90,117 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Hancock Whitney worth $10,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 268.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 985 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total transaction of $443,049.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 54,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,669. The trade was a 13.42 % 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 company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.89.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock traded down $0.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $56.88. 135,014 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 507,871. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1-year low of $39.38 and a 1-year high of $61.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 1.25.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. The firm had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Hancock Whitney's payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Hancock Whitney Company 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.