iSAM Funds UK Ltd Purchases Shares of 122,333 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 122,333 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,990,000. Huntington Bancshares accounts for approximately 1.5% of iSAM Funds UK Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 220.9% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,666,949 shares of the bank's stock valued at $59,661,000 after buying an additional 2,524,077 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 850,139 shares of the bank's stock valued at $13,832,000 after purchasing an additional 129,106 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $422,000. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,460,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $189,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $16.12 on Tuesday. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 1-year low of $11.92 and a 1-year high of $18.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current 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 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, April 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HBAN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Argus set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Baird R W raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $16.50 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $18.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $1,013,520.96. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 453,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,647,402.43. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total transaction of $552,925.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,825,036.44. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.89% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares 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.

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