Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.59.

A number of research firms have weighed in on HBAN. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Huntington Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $14.64 on Tuesday. Huntington Bancshares has a twelve month low of $9.25 and a twelve month high of $15.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $21.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $14.25 and its 200 day moving average is $13.70.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 14.77%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 55.86%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 5,747 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.98, for a total value of $86,090.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 65,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $987,167.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Huntington Bancshares news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.13, for a total transaction of $499,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 265,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,021,690.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 5,747 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.98, for a total value of $86,090.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 65,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $987,167.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,622 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,904 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,703,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 20.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 56,175,987 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $783,215,000 after purchasing an additional 9,533,511 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 715.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,251,631 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,081,000 after purchasing an additional 3,729,974 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 832.7% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,337,625 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,927,000 after buying an additional 2,979,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth about $35,428,000. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Huntington Bancshares

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for The Huntington National Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage banking services in the United States. The company offers financial products and services to consumer and business customers, including deposits, lending, payments, mortgage banking, dealer financing, investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and other financial products and services.