Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,518 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,452 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $1,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $305,000. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $845,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 14.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 717,229 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,543,000 after buying an additional 90,195 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 8.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,266 shares of the bank’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 1,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 2.6% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 46,555 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total value of $152,393.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 259,943 shares in the company, valued at $4,582,795.09. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total value of $99,600.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 558,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,615,217.06. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,699 shares of company stock worth $757,356. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 0.8 %

HBAN stock opened at $18.00 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $15.93 and a 200 day moving average of $14.55. The firm has a market cap of $26.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.03. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a twelve month low of $10.73 and a twelve month high of $18.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HBAN shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Sandler O’Neill reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $16.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.62.

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.