Financial Advisory Corp Takes Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 22,451 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 64,926,419 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,056,353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,218,020 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 52,599,986 shares of the bank's stock valued at $855,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310,502 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank's stock valued at $528,434,000 after purchasing an additional 8,759,871 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,825,092 shares of the bank's stock valued at $355,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,606 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $302,826,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $1,013,520.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 453,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,647,402.43. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 3,521 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.25, for a total transaction of $53,695.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,950 shares in the company, valued at $731,237.50. This represents a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 312,456 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,105 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.89% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of HBAN stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $15.56. The company had a trading volume of 21,951,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,111,151. The company has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. 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. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $14.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.93.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares declared that its board has initiated a share 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 repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HBAN has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Baird R W raised Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cowen began coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.83.

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.