Hancock Whitney Corporation $HWC Stock Position Lowered by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,837,875 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,969 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 5.79% of Hancock Whitney worth $302,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HWC. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 929.5% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 453 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 78.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 215.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,739 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 3.2%

NASDAQ:HWC opened at $62.86 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $68.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.80. Hancock Whitney Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $43.90 and a fifty-two week high of $75.43. The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $81.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.63 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 11.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Corporation will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 35.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Hancock Whitney from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.63.

Hancock Whitney Company Profile

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.