Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 24,404 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $397,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 19.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 14,354 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 62,392 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $917,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 5.0% during the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 17,783 shares of the bank’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 1.1% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 79,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $17.20 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.00 and a 200-day moving average of $15.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.07. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a twelve month low of $12.05 and a twelve month high of $18.44.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.4 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, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 50.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HBAN shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Sandler O’Neill reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $18.50 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total value of $152,393.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 259,943 shares in the company, valued at $4,582,795.09. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total value of $505,362.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 496,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,765,662.92. This represents a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Huntington Bancshares 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.