Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 997,906 Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 997,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,605,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 213.3% during 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 last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 201.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 51,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,657,000 after buying an additional 34,719 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.8% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 6.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 246,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,613,000 after acquiring an additional 15,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HWC. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $47.53 on Friday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1 year low of $41.56 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $55.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.38. 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 company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 1.24.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 34.09%.

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.