Driehaus Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 26,279 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 17,533.3% during the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 1,587 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 126.8% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,830 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the bank's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of HBAN stock traded up $0.11 on Friday, hitting $16.21. The company had a trading volume of 7,508,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,677,173. The firm has a market cap of $23.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The stock's 50-day moving average is $14.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.89. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a twelve month low of $11.92 and a twelve month high of $18.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 17th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Helga Houston sold 42,345 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.72, for a total transaction of $623,318.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 592,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,715,991.68. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 25,419 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.68, for a total value of $347,731.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 70,281 shares of the company's stock, valued at $961,444.08. This represents a 26.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 312,456 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,105 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HBAN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus set a $17.00 target price on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.50 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $18.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.58.

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.