Grove Bank & Trust Buys Shares of 559 Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 72,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,978,000 after buying an additional 7,725 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth approximately $223,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 17,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 36,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 160,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 6,506 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on HWC. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.63.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Christine L. Pickering sold 763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.40, for a total value of $39,981.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,343.20. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $1,069,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $59.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 52 week low of $41.19 and a 52 week high of $62.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.33 and its 200 day moving average is $53.54. The firm has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 1.27.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

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.