EMC Capital Management Increases Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

EMC Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,019 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 507 shares during the quarter. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,917,000 after acquiring an additional 73,316 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.4% in 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% during 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 buying an additional 46,622 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 20.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 780,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,350,000 after buying an additional 135,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 8.8% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 692,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,429,000 after buying an additional 55,869 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HWC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson increased their target price 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 restated 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $60.09 on Thursday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12-month low of $41.19 and a 12-month high of $62.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 30.30%.

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.