Journey Strategic Wealth LLC Makes New $208,000 Investment in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Journey Strategic Wealth LLC purchased a new position 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 (SEC). The fund purchased 3,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HWC. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth approximately $72,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 170.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 1.5 %

HWC opened at $58.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Hancock Whitney Co. has a one year low of $41.19 and a one year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 3.06%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 34.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

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.