Yahoo Finance Hancock Whitney (HWC) Hikes Quarterly Cash Dividend by 33.3%
Hancock Whitney, Corp. HWC has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend. The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of 40 cents per share, marking a jump of 33.3% from the prior payout. The dividend will be paid out on Jun 14 to shareholders of record as of Jun 5.
The company has increased its dividend twice during the last five years. Prior to the recent hike, HWC increased its dividend by 11.1% to 30 cents per share in January 2023. Also, the company has a five-year annualized dividend growth of 2.40%.
Currently, its payout ratio is 24% of earnings. This indicates that it retains adequate earnings for reinvestment and future growth initiatives while still delivering lucrative returns to its shareholders.
Considering Hancock Whitney’s closing price of $46.74 on Apr 26, its dividend yield is currently pegged at 3.42%.
Apart from regular dividend payouts, HWC has a share repurchase program in place. In January 2023, the company’s board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to 4.3 million shares through Dec 31, 2024. As of Mar 31, 2024, the whole authorization remained available. This program replaced the previous plan that expired in December 2022 with an authorization to repurchase up to 4.3 million shares.
HWC maintains a solid liquidity position. As of Mar 31, 2024, the company had a total deposit of $29.8 billion, total debt of $904.1 million and total loans of $24 billion. Given a robust capital and liquidity position, the company is expected to sustain its capital distribution activities. Through this, Hancock Whitney will keep enhancing shareholder value.
Over the past six months, shares of Hancock Whitney have gained 37.3%, outperforming the industry’s rally of 25.1%.
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HWC currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Other Banks Taking Similar Steps
Earlier this month, South Plains Financial, Inc. SPFI announced a hike in its quarterly dividend. The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of 14 cents per share, which marks an increase of 7.7% from the prior payout. The dividend will be paid out on May 13 to shareholders of record as of Apr 29.
The company has increased its dividend seven times during the last five years. Prior to the recent hike, SPFI increased its dividend by 8.3% to 13 cents per share in January 2023. Also, the company has a five-year annualized dividend growth of 50.82%.
Similarly, Bank OZK OZK announced a hike in its quarterly dividend. The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of 39 cents per share, an increase of 2.6% from the prior quarter. The dividend was paid on Apr 19 to shareholders on record as of Apr 12.
This represents the 55th consecutive quarter of a dividend hike by OZK. Prior to the recent hike, the company raised its dividend by 2.7% to 38 cents per share in January 2024.
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