Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 840,483 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,895 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.98% of Hancock Whitney worth $45,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective (up previously from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HWC opened at $53.69 on Thursday. 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 $41.56 and a 1 year high of $62.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.31.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney’s dividend 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.