Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 89,554 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,416 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney accounts for approximately 0.9% of Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC owned 0.10% of Hancock Whitney worth $4,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HWC. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth $844,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,605,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 102,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,884,000 after purchasing an additional 26,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 22.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 59,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,746,000 after purchasing an additional 10,810 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HWC. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson increased their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.89.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $61.04 on Tuesday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a twelve month low of $39.38 and a twelve month high of $62.40. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.61.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total value of $443,049.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 54,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,669. This trade represents a 13.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total transaction of $39,981.20. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.