Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,937,174 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,565 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 5.74% of Hancock Whitney worth $270,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,097,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,539,000 after purchasing an additional 181,706 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,898,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,557,000 after buying an additional 12,172 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,235,000 after acquiring an additional 73,875 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,605,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 729,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,533,000 after acquiring an additional 32,189 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HWC. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $62.00 price objective (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.56.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

HWC stock opened at $48.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.13. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1 year low of $43.60 and a 1 year high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 11.56%. The business had revenue of $367.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.12 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is 33.21%.

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.