Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 322,750 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden sharply increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares, boosting holdings by 169.9% in Q1 to 512,713 shares worth about $8.0 million.
• Huntington Bancshares reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting EPS of $0.37 versus the $0.16 estimate and revenue of $2.59 billion, while analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with a target price of $20.15.
• The bank also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.155 per share, equal to a 3.5% annualized yield, even as some insiders sold shares in recent transactions.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 169.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 512,713 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 322,750 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $8,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 533,005 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,248,000 after purchasing an additional 104,965 shares during the period. Fieldview Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 15.9% during the third quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC now owns 478,852 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,270,000 after buying an additional 65,828 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,820,816 shares of the bank's stock worth $48,941,000 after buying an additional 395,489 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 688.9% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 86,478 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,500,000 after buying an additional 75,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,161,085 shares of the bank's stock worth $141,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,652,464 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HBAN opened at $17.86 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $16.60 and its 200 day moving average is $16.90. The stock has a market cap of $36.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.93. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 1-year low of $14.89 and a 1-year high of $19.45. 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 (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.57 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.42% and a net margin of 16.63%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In related news, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 10,568 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $190,224.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 267,859 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,462. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director James D. Rollins III sold 223,522 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.35, for a total transaction of $3,878,106.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 612,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,620,889.25. This represents a 26.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 33,500 shares of company stock worth $617,542. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on HBAN. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. 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 report on Monday, March 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.15.

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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