Atria Investments Inc Sells 1,844 Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Atria Investments Inc reduced its position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 30.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,303 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,844 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HWC. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,917,000 after acquiring an additional 73,316 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,016,000 after purchasing an additional 30,239 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,898,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,557,000 after purchasing an additional 12,172 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in Hancock Whitney by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 692,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,429,000 after buying an additional 55,869 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HWC shares. StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. 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. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $51.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.29. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 1 year low of $41.56 and a 1 year high of $62.40. 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 released 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 return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Hancock Whitney’s payout ratio is presently 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.