JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $26.95 Million Position in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its position in shares of Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 430,392 shares of the company’s stock after selling 179,047 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $26,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 35,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,209,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 10.6% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 126,754.3% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 457,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,671,000 after buying an additional 457,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 215.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,739 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total transaction of $358,415.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,283,449.57. This trade represents a 13.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 5.9%

NASDAQ HWC opened at $65.81 on Friday. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a one year low of $43.90 and a one year high of $75.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $68.43 and its 200-day moving average is $63.66.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $81.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.63 million. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.16% and a net margin of 24.05%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.63.

Hancock Whitney Profile

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ: HWC) is a regional financial services company headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi. The firm was established in April 2019 through the merger of Hancock Holding Company and Whitney Holding Corporation, each of which traced its roots to the late 19th century. This combination created one of the largest bank holding companies in the Gulf South region, with a network of branches serving both urban and rural communities.

The company’s core business activities include commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.