Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

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

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter valued at about $844,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 66.7% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter worth $2,605,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 35.4% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 102,103 shares of the company's stock worth $4,884,000 after purchasing an additional 26,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth $508,000. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total transaction of $443,049.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 54,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,857,669. This represents a 13.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock worth $1,593,710. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HWC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upgraded Hancock Whitney from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. 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 note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Truist Financial cut 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 note on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.00.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $54.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 294,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,913. The stock has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12-month low of $41.19 and a 12-month high of $62.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.71 and a 200 day moving average of $52.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.