Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $30.30 Million Stock Position in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 553,776 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,858 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $30,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Hancock Whitney in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Hancock Whitney in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Hancock Whitney by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on 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 reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Hancock Whitney stock opened at $53.00 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.39. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 12-month low of $41.56 and a 12-month high of $62.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. This is an increase from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 34.09%.

About Hancock Whitney

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.