Sanctuary Advisors LLC Grows Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,358 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $1,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 149.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,435,000 after purchasing an additional 192,295 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 36.8% during the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 607,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,072,000 after purchasing an additional 163,438 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 21.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,227,000 after purchasing an additional 96,092 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,917,000 after purchasing an additional 73,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 55,869 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HWC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.4 %

HWC stock opened at $56.31 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $57.58 and its 200 day moving average is $55.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 1.27. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1-year low of $41.56 and a 1-year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal 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 is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.09%.

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.