New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $8.14 Million Stock Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 148,657 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,980 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.17% of Hancock Whitney worth $8,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth approximately $72,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 170.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on HWC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock traded down $1.30 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $56.82. 561,714 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 652,850. The stock has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.56 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $57.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.79. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.09%.

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.