Hancock Whitney's (NASDAQ:HWC) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's

Hancock Whitney Corporation (NASDAQ:HWC) will increase its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 15th of March to $0.30. Even though the dividend went up, the yield is still quite low at only 2.3%.

Check out our latest analysis for Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney's Earnings Will Easily Cover The Distributions

If it is predictable over a long period, even low dividend yields can be attractive.

Hancock Whitney has a long history of paying out dividends, with its current track record at a minimum of 10 years. Using data from its latest earnings report, Hancock Whitney's payout ratio sits at 18%, an extremely comfortable number that shows that it can pay its dividend.

Looking forward, EPS is forecast to rise by 0.6% over the next 3 years. Analysts forecast the future payout ratio could be 19% over the same time horizon, which is a number we think the company can maintain.

Hancock Whitney Has A Solid Track Record

The company has a sustained record of paying dividends with very little fluctuation. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $0.96 in 2013, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $1.20. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 2.3% over that duration. Dividends have grown relatively slowly, which is not great, but some investors may value the relative consistency of the dividend.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. We are encouraged to see that Hancock Whitney has grown earnings per share at 19% per year over the past five years. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Hancock Whitney's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.

We Really Like Hancock Whitney's Dividend

In summary, it is always positive to see the dividend being increased, and we are particularly pleased with its overall sustainability. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For example, we've picked out 1 warning sign for Hancock Whitney that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Is Hancock Whitney not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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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.