Headlands Technologies LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 135.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,981 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,466 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HWC. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 213.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $919,000 after purchasing an additional 12,229 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 201.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 51,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,657,000 after buying an additional 34,719 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 246,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,613,000 after buying an additional 15,703 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 9.1% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HWC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ HWC opened at $52.97 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.43. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12 month low of $41.56 and a 12 month high of $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 1.24.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. 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. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 34.09%.

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.