Princeton Capital Management LLC Invests $246,000 in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Princeton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 11.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HWC shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on 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 raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $54.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.30. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1 year low of $41.56 and a 1 year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.