Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Raises Stock Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,691 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,725 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $3,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 17,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 36,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 160,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after buying an additional 6,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 valued at $28,227,000 after acquiring an additional 96,092 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,232,343.20. The trade was a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $59.10 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney Co. has a twelve month low of $41.19 and a twelve month high of $62.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $57.33 and a 200 day moving average of $53.49.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HWC shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.63.

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.