Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

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 make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

Headquartered in Gulfport, Hancock Whitney (HWC Quick QuoteHWC - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 15.01% so far this year. The holding company of Whitney Bank and Hancock Bank is paying out a dividend of $0.50 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.73% compared to the Banks - Southeast industry's yield of 1.9% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.39%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $2.00 is up 11.1% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Hancock Whitney has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 11.55%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Hancock Whitney's current payout ratio is 33%, meaning it paid out 33% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for HWC for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $6.44 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 12.59%.

From 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.

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. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, HWC is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).