DMC Group LLC Grows Stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

DMC Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,822 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the quarter. DMC Group LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 170.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HWC shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $59.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $57.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.79. Hancock Whitney Co. has a one year low of $41.19 and a one year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.30%.

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.