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

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.94.

HBAN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $18.50 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

HBAN opened at $12.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average is $15.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.13. Huntington Bancshares has a 1 year low of $12.05 and a 1 year high of $18.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.41%.

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 3,521 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.25, for a total value of $53,695.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $731,237.50. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $1,013,520.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 453,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,647,402.43. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 111,781 shares of company stock worth $1,631,151. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBAN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $302,826,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $150,444,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $528,434,000 after acquiring an additional 8,759,871 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 10.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,474,115 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,179,319,000 after acquiring an additional 7,439,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 126.6% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 7,048,773 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,684,000 after purchasing an additional 3,938,769 shares in the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.