Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN Shares Bought by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Key Points

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its Huntington Bancshares stake by 32.9% in the first quarter, ending with 472,825 shares valued at about $7.4 million.
• Huntington Bancshares reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.37 versus the $0.16 consensus estimate, while revenue also slightly topped forecasts at $2.59 billion.
• The bank continued to reward shareholders with a quarterly dividend of $0.155 per share, equal to a 3.5% annualized yield, while analysts currently see the stock as a Moderate Buy with a $20.25 target price.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 32.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 472,825 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 117,127 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $7,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HBAN. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the third quarter worth $26,000. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 403.1% in the fourth quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,092 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $17.85 on Wednesday. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $14.89 and a fifty-two week high of $19.45. The company has a market capitalization of $36.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $16.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.42% and a net margin of 16.63%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th were issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 47.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HBAN shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Barclays downgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, June 15th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.25.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, Director James D. Rollins III sold 223,522 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.35, for a total value of $3,878,106.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 612,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,620,889.25. The trade was a 26.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 10,568 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $190,224.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 267,859 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,462. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 33,500 shares of company stock worth $617,542. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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