JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Holdings in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 609,439 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,987 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $34,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 929.5% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 453 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 6,107.7% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 807 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In other news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 9,894 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.86, for a total transaction of $542,784.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 55,733 shares in the company, valued at $3,057,512.38. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HWC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.14.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Shares of HWC opened at $61.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a one year low of $43.90 and a one year high of $64.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.27 and a 200 day moving average of $59.16.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 23.99%.The business had revenue of $175.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.32 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.20%.

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.