Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,661 shares of the company’s stock after selling 403 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney comprises approximately 0.5% of Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. DMC Group LLC boosted its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Hancock Whitney by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in Hancock Whitney by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 6,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HWC shares. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Hancock Whitney from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of HWC stock opened at $60.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.49. Hancock Whitney Co. has a twelve month low of $41.43 and a twelve month high of $62.40.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last posted 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.30%.

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.