Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) stock performs better than its underlying earnings growth over last five years

If you buy and hold a stock for many years, you'd hope to be making a profit. But more than that, you probably want to see it rise more than the market average. But Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) has fallen short of that second goal, with a share price rise of 43% over five years, which is below the market return. Some buyers are laughing, though, with an increase of 23% in the last year.

The past week has proven to be lucrative for Hancock Whitney investors, so let's see if fundamentals drove the company's five-year performance.

Check out our latest analysis for Hancock Whitney

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Over half a decade, Hancock Whitney managed to grow its earnings per share at 1.4% a year. This EPS growth is slower than the share price growth of 7% per year, over the same period. So it's fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it did five years ago. That's not necessarily surprising considering the five-year track record of earnings growth.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

Dive deeper into Hancock Whitney's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Hancock Whitney's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, Hancock Whitney's TSR for the last 5 years was 66%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Hancock Whitney shareholders have received returns of 26% over twelve months (even including dividends), which isn't far from the general market return. That gain looks pretty satisfying, and it is even better than the five-year TSR of 11% per year. Even if the share price growth slows down from here, there's a good chance that this is business worth watching in the long term. If you would like to research Hancock Whitney in more detail then you might want to take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in the company.

Of course Hancock Whitney may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.