Carlson Capital L.P. Increases Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Key Points

• Carlson Capital L.P. increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 178% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 71,900 shares and bringing its total holding to 112,300 shares worth about $1.95 million.
• Institutional interest remains strong, with major holders like Vanguard and Victory Capital also boosting positions; institutions now own 80.72% of the bank’s shares.
• Analysts remain cautiously bullish: the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $20.05, while the company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates and announced a quarterly dividend yielding 3.8%.

Carlson Capital L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 178.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,300 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 71,900 shares during the period. Huntington Bancshares accounts for about 0.7% of Carlson Capital L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Carlson Capital L.P.'s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $1,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HBAN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,319,041 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,319,385,000 after purchasing an additional 14,338,222 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter worth approximately $85,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 15.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,230,988 shares of the bank's stock worth $594,054,000 after acquiring an additional 4,640,302 shares in the last quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,333,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 48.0% in the third quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 9,676,829 shares of the bank's stock worth $167,119,000 after acquiring an additional 3,138,669 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus increased their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group set a $21.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.05.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 65,530 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $1,001,298.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 481,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,360,009.28. This trade represents a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Prashant Nateri sold 10,171 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.50, for a total value of $157,650.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 83,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,299,194.50. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 39,200 shares of company stock valued at $756,724 and sold 93,156 shares valued at $1,489,372. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $16.12 on Friday. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a one year low of $14.89 and a one year high of $19.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.96.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.21. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.42% and a net margin of 16.63%.The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.69%.

Huntington Bancshares 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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