Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.
Hancock Whitney in Focus
Hancock Whitney (HWC) is headquartered in Gulfport, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of -1.17% since the start of the year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.45 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.33%. In comparison, the Banks - Southeast industry's yield is 2.38%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.6%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.80 is up 20% from last year. In the past five-year period, Hancock Whitney has increased its dividend 2 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 9.80%. Any future dividend growth will depend on both earnings growth and the company's payout ratio; a payout ratio is the proportion of a firm's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Hancock Whitney's current payout ratio is 33%. This means it paid out 33% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
HWC is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $5.46 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 2.63%.
Bottom Line
Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.
High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that HWC is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
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Hancock Whitney Corporation (HWC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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