JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reduces Stock Position in Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase cut its stake in Hancock Whitney by 29.4% in Q3, selling 179,047 shares and leaving it with 430,392 shares (about 0.51% ownership) valued at roughly $26.95 million.
• Insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares on January 23 at an average price of $68.57 (≈$358,415), reducing his personal position by about 13.6%.
• Hancock Whitney raised its quarterly dividend to $0.50 ($2.00 annualized, ~3.2% yield), while analysts remain largely bullish with a consensus "Buy" rating and a $75.63 target price.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC - Free Report) by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 430,392 shares of the company's stock after selling 179,047 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.51% of Hancock Whitney worth $26,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 67.6% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 627 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the third quarter valued at approximately $253,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 84,400.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 845 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth approximately $575,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the third quarter worth approximately $222,000. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 5,227 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.57, for a total transaction of $358,415.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 33,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,283,449.57. This represents a 13.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 2.3%

HWC opened at $62.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.78. The company has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.05. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a 1 year low of $43.90 and a 1 year high of $75.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 11.16%. The firm had revenue of $81.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $391.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Hancock Whitney's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on HWC shares. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hancock Whitney from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Barclays started coverage on Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Hancock Whitney from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.63.

About Hancock Whitney

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.

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