Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Has $1.14 Million Stock Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lowered its holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,751 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,041 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $1,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. DMC Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ HWC opened at $56.19 on Thursday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1-year low of $41.56 and a 1-year high of $62.40. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $57.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.07. The company has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted 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 in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 34.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HWC. StockNews.com cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.