Sowell Financial Services LLC Has $672,000 Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 60.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,742 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 16,825 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the bank's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the period. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HBAN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $18.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In related news, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 3,521 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.25, for a total value of $53,695.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at $731,237.50. This trade represents a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total transaction of $964,008.73. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 326,456 shares in the company, valued at $4,469,182.64. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 218,617 shares of company stock valued at $3,113,982 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HBAN traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.84. 27,454,187 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,655,694. The company's 50-day moving average price is $15.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.72. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 1-year low of $11.92 and a 1-year high of $18.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 17th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Company Profile

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for The Huntington National Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage banking services in the United States. The company offers financial products and services to consumer and business customers, including deposits, lending, payments, mortgage banking, dealer financing, investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and other financial products and services.