Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Declares $0.40 Quarterly Dividend

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th.

Hancock Whitney has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.6% annually over the last three years. Hancock Whitney has a payout ratio of 31.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Hancock Whitney to earn $5.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.9%.

Hancock Whitney Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of HWC stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.59. 878,487 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 488,243. Hancock Whitney has a 12-month low of $32.69 and a 12-month high of $57.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $51.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 1.26.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.54 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 11.47%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HWC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Hancock Whitney from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.89.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frank E. Bertucci sold 2,053 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $117,082.59. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,286,254.62. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total transaction of $443,049.05. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 54,380 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,669. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frank E. Bertucci sold 2,053 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $117,082.59. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,286,254.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,284 shares of company stock valued at $600,892. 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.