Hancock Whitney Co. (HWC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.40 on June 14th

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share on Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Hancock Whitney has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Hancock Whitney has a dividend payout ratio of 23.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Hancock Whitney to earn $5.00 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.0%.

Hancock Whitney Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HWC traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.74. The stock had a trading volume of 666,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 512,407. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 1.33. Hancock Whitney has a twelve month low of $31.02 and a twelve month high of $49.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup raised shares of Hancock Whitney from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.71.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In related news, insider Christopher S. Ziluca sold 3,636 shares of Hancock Whitney stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total transaction of $158,166.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,897.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.