Headlands Technologies LLC Increases Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 135.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,981 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,466 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $710,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth $54,605,000. Barclays PLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 192,295 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,097,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,539,000 after purchasing an additional 181,706 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,517,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 96,092 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $52.97 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $55.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.43. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 52 week low of $41.56 and a 52 week high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS 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 firm earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 34.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

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.