Hancock Whitney (HWC) Could Be a Great Choice

All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. 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 that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the 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 FocusBased in Gulfport, Hancock Whitney (HWC) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -5.23%. The holding company of Whitney Bank and Hancock Bank is paying out a dividend of $0.45 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.47% compared to the Banks - Southeast industry's yield of 2.36% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.59%.Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.80 is up 20% from last year. Hancock Whitney has increased its dividend 2 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 7.74%. 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 30%, meaning it paid out 30% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Earnings growth looks solid for HWC for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $5.39 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 1.32%.Bottom LineFrom greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that HWC is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Hancock Whitney Corporation (HWC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks