Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

Key Points

• KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 16.3% in Q4 to 2,820,816 shares, representing about 0.18% ownership and worth roughly $48.94 million.
• Multiple analysts lowered price targets (JPMorgan, Evercore, Wolfe and Truist cut targets from $21 to $19; Jefferies to $21), leaving a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $20.13 consensus target.
• Huntington shares traded near $16.57 with a $33.8B market cap and 11.92 P/E; the bank missed Q4 EPS ($0.37 vs. $0.40) and revenue estimates and pays a $0.155 quarterly dividend (about 3.7% yield).

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,820,816 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 395,489 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned 0.18% of Huntington Bancshares worth $48,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 176,980,819 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,056,459,000 after acquiring an additional 680,601 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 3.9% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 63,302,953 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,091,615,000 after buying an additional 2,363,905 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 1.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,062,922 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,020,017,000 after buying an additional 861,263 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 15.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,230,988 shares of the bank's stock worth $594,054,000 after buying an additional 4,640,302 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 4.7% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 21,292,946 shares of the bank's stock worth $367,729,000 after buying an additional 956,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on HBAN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Evercore reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.13.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $16.57 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $16.48 and its 200-day moving average is $16.73. The company has a market cap of $33.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $13.36 and a 12 month high of $19.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.21 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 17.71%.During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th were issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 18th. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Prashant Nateri sold 10,171 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.50, for a total value of $157,650.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 83,819 shares in the company, valued at $1,299,194.50. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James D. Rollins III acquired 6,873 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.27 per share, for a total transaction of $159,934.71. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,080. This trade represents a -239.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 27,700 shares of company stock worth $540,401 and sold 98,986 shares worth $1,600,958. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Huntington Bancshares

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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