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

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,631 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 149.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,435,000 after purchasing an additional 192,295 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,097,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $552,539,000 after buying an additional 181,706 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at $9,517,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 36.8% during the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,072,000 after acquiring an additional 163,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,227,000 after acquiring an additional 96,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 3.7 %

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $54.26 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $56.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 1.24. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1-year low of $41.56 and a 1-year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HWC. StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James reiterated 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, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

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.