KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $930,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company's stock worth $219,917,000 after buying an additional 73,316 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company's stock worth $110,016,000 after purchasing an additional 30,239 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,898,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,557,000 after purchasing an additional 12,172 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,710 shares of the company's stock worth $67,235,000 after purchasing an additional 73,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 729,741 shares of the company's stock worth $40,533,000 after purchasing an additional 32,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HWC. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $72.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Hancock Whitney from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

HWC traded down $1.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $46.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,352,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 559,111. Hancock Whitney Co. has a twelve month low of $41.56 and a twelve month high of $62.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.09%.

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.