Hancock Holding Company Announces Quarterly Dividend

• Press Release
• Source: Hancock Holding Company
• On 5:21 pm EDT, Tuesday August 18, 2009

GULFPORT, Miss., Aug. 18, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hancock Holding Company (Nasdaq:HBHC - News) today announced that the company's board of directors approved a regular third quarter 2009 common stock cash dividend of $0.24 per share.

Related Quotes

Symbol	Price	Change
HBHC	41.64	-0.65

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Approved during the August meeting of the company's board of directors, the regular quarterly common stock cash dividend is payable September 15, 2009, to shareholders of record as of September 8, 2009.

Hancock Holding Company -- parent company of Hancock Bank Mississippi, Hancock Bank of Louisiana, Hancock Bank of Florida, and Hancock Bank of Alabama -- has assets of approximately $7.05 billion. Founded in 1899, Hancock Bank consistently ranks as one of the country's strongest, safest financial institutions according to BauerFinancial Services, Inc., and was named among America's Top 10 Best Banks by Bank Director magazine. Forbes also listed Hancock Holding Company as one of "The 100 Most Trustworthy Companies" in the nation. Additional corporate information and e-banking are available at www.hancockbank.com.

The Hancock Holding Company logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2758

"SAFE HARBOR" STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: Congress passed the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995 in an effort to encourage corporations to provide information about companies' anticipated future financial performance. This act provides a safe harbor for such disclosure, which protects the companies from unwarranted litigation if actual results are different from management expectations. This release contains forward-looking statements and reflects management's current views and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance, and financial results. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties which could cause the Company's actual results and experience to differ from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements.

Hancock Holding Company
Carl J. Chaney, President & Chief Executive Officer
Michael M. Achary, Executive Vice President & Chief
Financial Officer
Paul D. Guichet, Vice President, Investor Relations
800.522.6542
228.563.6559