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

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis 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% per year over the last three years. Hancock Whitney has a payout ratio of 31.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

HWC stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $51.59. 878,487 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 488,243. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.87. Hancock Whitney has a 52-week low of $32.69 and a 52-week high of $57.78. The company has a market cap 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 results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 19.30%. The business had revenue of $525.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.55, for a total transaction of $443,049.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 54,380 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,669. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Michael M. Achary sold 8,431 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 54,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,669. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Carleton Richard Wilkins sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $40,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,900 shares in the company, valued at $810,105. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,284 shares of company stock valued at $600,892. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HWC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on 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 raised their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hancock Whitney presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.89.

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.