JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Stock Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 551,636 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 96,092 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.64% of Hancock Whitney worth $28,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter valued at $63,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 2nd quarter worth $117,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.63. The stock had a trading volume of 446,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 558,211. The company has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.00 and a 200-day moving average of $52.95. 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 (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on HWC. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 54,380 shares of the company's stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,994 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,710. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.