Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Position Reduced by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP decreased its position in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,052 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,150 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $1,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWC. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 increased its holdings in shares of 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. increased its holdings in shares of 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HWC has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.6 %

Hancock Whitney stock opened at $52.30 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12 month low of $41.56 and a 12 month high of $62.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 1.24.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is currently 34.09%.

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.