Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Raises Stock Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its Huntington Bancshares stake by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 5.49 million shares worth about $95.5 million.
• Huntington Bancshares reported strong quarterly earnings, posting EPS of $0.37 versus estimates of $0.16 and revenue of $2.59 billion, slightly ahead of expectations.
• The bank also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.155 per share, implying an annualized yield of 4.0%; analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $20.05.

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,491,294 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 116,335 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.35% of Huntington Bancshares worth $95,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HBAN. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. South Plains Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 116.3% during the third quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 1,536 shares of the bank's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 374.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the bank's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $15.35 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $14.89 and a 12 month high of $19.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.74. The company has a market cap of $31.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.96.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.21. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HBAN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $19.50 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $21.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore cut their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $21.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gary Torgow acquired 14,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.81 per share, with a total value of $252,902.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 943,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,800,903.21. This trade represents a 1.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 65,530 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total transaction of $1,001,298.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 481,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,360,009.28. The trade was a 11.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders acquired 39,200 shares of company stock worth $756,724 in the last ninety days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Company Profile

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated NASDAQ: HBAN is a bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, Huntington National Bank. The company's operations are centered on retail and commercial banking, and it serves individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, and institutional customers.

Huntington's product offerings include traditional deposit and lending products, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, auto financing, and business banking solutions.

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