Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Trims Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ sharply cut its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 95% in the first quarter, leaving it with 18,622 shares worth about $291,000.
• Huntington Bancshares reported strong first-quarter results, posting earnings of $0.37 per share versus the $0.16 consensus estimate and revenue of $2.59 billion, while analysts still see full-year EPS of 1.62.
• The bank also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.155 per share, implying a 3.5% annual yield, even as several insiders sold shares and analysts maintained a Moderate Buy overall rating.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ cut its position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 95.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,622 shares of the bank's stock after selling 350,485 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBAN. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Huntington Bancshares by 42.1% during the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,799 shares of the bank's stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 15,654 shares during the period. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 163.4% in the first quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 11,241 shares of the bank's stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 6,974 shares during the period. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the first quarter worth approximately $157,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 33.5% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,164,928 shares of the bank's stock worth $18,231,000 after acquiring an additional 292,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fruth Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 48.5% in the 1st quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 24,988 shares of the bank's stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 8,162 shares during the period. 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 $17.86 on Friday. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a one year low of $14.89 and a one year high of $19.45. The company has a market cap of $36.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.90.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share 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 net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 11.42%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James D. Rollins III sold 223,522 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.35, for a total value of $3,878,106.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 612,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,620,889.25. This trade represents a 26.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 10,568 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $190,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 267,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,821,462. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 33,500 shares of company stock valued at $617,542. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.15.

Huntington Bancshares 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HBAN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.