Blue Trust Inc. Has $174,000 Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,393 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 8.8% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 692,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,429,000 after purchasing an additional 55,869 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the third quarter worth about $844,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,694,000 after buying an additional 13,243 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter worth $2,605,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 96,092 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on HWC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 2.1 %

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $60.09 on Wednesday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a twelve month low of $41.19 and a twelve month high of $62.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.