Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Increases Dividend to $0.45 Per Share

Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This is a boost from Hancock Whitney's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40.

Hancock Whitney has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.6% per year over the last three years. Hancock Whitney has a payout ratio of 27.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Hancock Whitney to earn $5.59 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 28.6%.

Hancock Whitney Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HWC traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.09. 425,999 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 698,800. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Hancock Whitney has a fifty-two week low of $41.19 and a fifty-two week high of $62.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.32.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.12. Hancock Whitney had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 22.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hancock Whitney will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, CEO John M. Hairston sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total value of $1,069,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,099,305.44. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.