Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 8,121 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $444,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 105.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 74,736 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,824,000 after purchasing an additional 38,398 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 32,730 shares of the company's stock worth $1,675,000 after buying an additional 2,134 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter valued at about $810,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,154,835 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,093,000 after acquiring an additional 46,622 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 149,118 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,630,000 after acquiring an additional 20,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $72.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.56.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on HWC
Hancock Whitney Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ HWC traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $53.55. The company had a trading volume of 667,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 519,235. Hancock Whitney Co. has a one year low of $41.56 and a one year high of $62.40. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $56.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 1.24.
Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Hancock Whitney's payout ratio is 34.09%.
About Hancock Whitney
(
Free Report)
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.
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