236,423 Shares in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Purchased by Foundry Partners LLC

Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 236,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,937,000. Foundry Partners LLC owned approximately 0.27% of Hancock Whitney as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,097,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,539,000 after purchasing an additional 181,706 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Hancock Whitney by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,297,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,917,000 after buying an additional 73,316 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Hancock Whitney by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,016,000 after buying an additional 30,239 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,898,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,557,000 after buying an additional 12,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 73,875 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HWC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Hancock Whitney in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hancock Whitney from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up previously from $64.00) 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ HWC opened at $47.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $55.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.38. 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 $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio 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.