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

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 1,029.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,155 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing 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.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HWC. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 149.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 321,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,435,000 after purchasing an additional 192,295 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,517,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its position 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Hancock Whitney by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,235,000 after purchasing an additional 73,875 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ HWC opened at $52.30 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 1.24. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1 year low of $41.56 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The business’s 50-day moving average is $56.87 and its 200 day moving average is $55.24.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HWC has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James restated 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. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.