Swiss National Bank Grows Stock Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,800 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of Hancock Whitney worth $9,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of HWC. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 149.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,435,000 after acquiring an additional 192,295 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth $9,517,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings 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 worth $31,072,000 after acquiring an additional 163,438 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 21.1% during the third 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. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,235,000 after acquiring an additional 73,875 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $52.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 52-week low of $41.56 and a 52-week high of $62.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 1.24.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 34.09%.

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.