Journey Strategic Wealth LLC Takes Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Journey Strategic Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. DMC Group LLC increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 6,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $58.84 on Tuesday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1 year low of $41.19 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.49 and a 200-day moving average of $54.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Hancock Whitney

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.