EMC Capital Management Raises Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,019 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the quarter. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DMC Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 19,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 3,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1,987.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 51,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,814,000 after purchasing an additional 48,957 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HWC. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $60.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.79. Hancock Whitney Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.19 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued 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 in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Hancock Whitney

In related news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 owns 254,026 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.