Wolverine Asset Management LLC Acquires 6,345 Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,032 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,345 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $2,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,072,000 after buying an additional 163,438 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,227,000 after buying an additional 96,092 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,917,000 after buying an additional 73,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 8.8% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 692,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,429,000 after acquiring an additional 55,869 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $56.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $57.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12-month low of $41.56 and a 12-month high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HWC. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

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.