Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 212.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,255 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 51,851 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $1,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $302,826,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $150,444,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank's stock worth $528,434,000 after acquiring an additional 8,759,871 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 126.6% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 7,048,773 shares of the bank's stock worth $114,684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,938,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 17,435,207 shares of the bank's stock worth $286,460,000 after acquiring an additional 3,671,235 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of HBAN stock opened at $16.22 on Friday. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52-week low of $11.92 and a 52-week high of $18.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $14.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.83.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 17th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HBAN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cowen initiated coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised Huntington Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.50 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $16.50 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $1,013,520.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 453,129 shares in the company, valued at $6,647,402.43. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total value of $552,925.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,825,036.44. This trade represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Huntington Bancshares

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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