Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Position Boosted by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,585 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $2,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake 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. acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at $9,517,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 36.8% in 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 buying an additional 163,438 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Hancock Whitney by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,227,000 after buying an additional 96,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,235,000 after acquiring an additional 73,875 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HWC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.5 %

HWC opened at $54.10 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12 month low of $41.56 and a 12 month high of $62.40.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.09%.

About Hancock Whitney

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.