Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases 5,610 Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 1,029.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,155 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,610 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of HWC opened at $52.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 1.24. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.24. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1-year low of $41.56 and a 1-year high of $62.40.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 34.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on HWC shares. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.