Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Buys 1,179 Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,631 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,179 shares during the quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HWC. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 105.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 74,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,824,000 after buying an additional 38,398 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 7.0% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 32,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,154,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,093,000 after acquiring an additional 46,622 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 149,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,630,000 after purchasing an additional 20,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 213.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $919,000 after purchasing an additional 12,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $54.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 1.24. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $41.56 and a 12 month high of $62.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.30.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 34.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Three investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Company 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.