Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Short Interest Update

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 29,390,000 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the September 30th total of 27,870,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 13,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HBAN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Sandler O’Neill reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total transaction of $99,600.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 558,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,615,217.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 248,687 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,656,000 after buying an additional 19,484 shares in the last quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $252,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 128,396 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 24,879 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 78,535 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $168,000. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of HBAN stock opened at $15.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.88. Huntington Bancshares has a 52 week low of $9.75 and a 52 week high of $16.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.07.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.62%.

Huntington Bancshares Company Profile

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.