Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN Shares Sold by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

Key Points

• 35.6% sale: AustralianSuper cut its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 35.6% in Q3, selling 154,631 shares and leaving it with 279,593 shares worth about $4.83 million.
• Insider selling: Company insiders were net sellers over the last three months (sold 50,145 shares vs. acquired 26,488), including VP Brantley Standridge (5,830 shares at $19.14) and VP Brendan Lawlor (17,455 shares at $18.93).
• Analyst view & dividend: The stock has a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average target of $20.69 (current price ~$16.83), and Huntington announced a quarterly dividend of $0.155 per share (annualized $0.62, yield ~3.7%, ex-dividend March 18).

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lowered its holdings in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 35.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 279,593 shares of the bank's stock after selling 154,631 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $4,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBAN. Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,081 shares of the bank's stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Strategic Planning Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.3% in the third quarter. Strategic Planning Inc. now owns 199,318 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,442,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 1.0% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 73,147 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 3.1% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 27,294 shares of the bank's stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chris Bulman Inc lifted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 7.8% in the third quarter. Chris Bulman Inc now owns 11,698 shares of the bank's stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 5,830 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.14, for a total transaction of $111,586.20. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 327,676 shares in the company, valued at $6,271,718.64. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 17,455 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total value of $330,423.15. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 42,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $802,594.14. This trade represents a 29.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 26,488 shares of company stock valued at $510,286 and sold 50,145 shares valued at $929,885. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Evercore assumed coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.69.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $16.83 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.08. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $11.91 and a 12 month high of $19.45. The firm has a market cap of $34.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.21 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 11.98%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.60%.

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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