Sei Investments Co. Decreases Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Sei Investments Co. lowered its stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,761 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,243 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.14% of Hancock Whitney worth $6,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HWC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 21.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,227,000 after acquiring an additional 96,092 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at $1,096,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Hancock Whitney by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,228,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,235,000 after buying an additional 73,875 shares during the period. Inman Jager Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter worth $696,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 1,987.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 51,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after buying an additional 48,957 shares during the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hancock Whitney Stock Up 1.1 %

HWC stock opened at $52.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.24. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1-year low of $41.56 and a 1-year high of $62.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.09%.

Hancock Whitney Company 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.