Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $9.52 Million in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 173,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,517,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of HWC stock opened at $52.30 on Friday. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1 year low of $41.56 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $56.87 and its 200-day moving average is $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91 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 (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.