New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $138,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 96,092 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,096,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $67,235,000 after purchasing an additional 73,875 shares in the last quarter. Inman Jager Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter worth approximately $696,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1,987.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 51,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after purchasing an additional 48,957 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on HWC. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of HWC stock opened at $52.97 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $55.97 and a 200 day moving average of $55.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03 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.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued 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 net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change 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 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.