Boston Partners Cuts Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Key Points

• Boston Partners has reduced its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 4.3%, now holding 58,162,619 shares worth approximately $871 million, making it the 13th largest holding for the firm.
• The company has announced a $1 billion stock buyback program, indicating the board's belief that the stock may be undervalued, and it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.155 to be paid on October 1st.
• Analysts have expressed optimism about the stock, with several raising their price targets and maintaining a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Huntington Bancshares shares.

Boston Partners cut its holdings in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,162,619 shares of the bank's stock after selling 2,626,917 shares during the period. Huntington Bancshares makes up approximately 1.1% of Boston Partners' investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Boston Partners owned about 3.98% of Huntington Bancshares worth $871,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 8.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,186,593 shares of the bank's stock worth $858,371,000 after acquiring an additional 4,586,607 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 126.6% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 7,048,773 shares of the bank's stock worth $114,684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,938,769 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 356.1% in the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 4,432,186 shares of the bank's stock worth $72,112,000 after acquiring an additional 3,460,328 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,078,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 47.7% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 8,870,393 shares of the bank's stock valued at $133,145,000 after buying an additional 2,865,727 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ HBAN traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,072,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,239,708. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $16.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.68. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a twelve month low of $11.91 and a twelve month high of $18.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.93.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. Huntington Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HBAN. Argus set a $17.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wolfe Research raised Huntington Bancshares from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. TD Cowen began coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.68.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 13,700 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.79, for a total transaction of $216,323.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 337,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,335,109.41. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.