Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN Stock: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Stake

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group cut its Huntington Bancshares stake by 4.1% in the third quarter, selling 209,971 shares; it still held about 4.94 million shares valued at $75.4 million.
• Analyst views were mixed, with some firms downgrading the stock or lowering price targets. The consensus rating remained Moderate Buy, with an average target of $18.98.
• Huntington reported quarterly EPS of $0.38, in line with estimates, while revenue of $2.79 billion came in below forecasts. It also announced a $0.155 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 3.9% yield.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,939,647 shares of the bank's stock after selling 209,971 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.24% of Huntington Bancshares worth $75,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 90.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,682 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 80.7% during the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the bank's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 994 shares in the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HBAN. Wolfe Research cut Huntington Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Stephens dropped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Evercore lowered their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.98.

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, Director Gary Torgow purchased 12,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.73 per share, with a total value of $199,771.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 956,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,038,524.93. The trade was a 1.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James Rollins, III purchased 14,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.12 per share, for a total transaction of $253,680.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 15,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $280,860. This trade represents a 933.33% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ HBAN opened at $15.86 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.69. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $14.82 and a 12 month high of $19.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.97.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.38. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 18th will be issued a $0.1550 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.24%.

Huntington Bancshares Profile

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Its principal subsidiary, The Huntington National Bank, provides banking and financial services to consumers, businesses, institutions and government entities.

The company's offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential lending, credit cards, auto finance, mortgages, commercial loans, treasury management, investment and wealth management services, insurance, and other financial solutions.

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