Newport Trust Company LLC Decreases Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Key Points

• Newport Trust Company LLC trimmed its HBAN stake by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, though it still held more than 10.45 million shares valued at about $181.4 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other investors owning 80.72% of Huntington Bancshares; meanwhile, analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $20.05.
• Huntington Bancshares recently reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.37 per share versus $0.16 expected, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.155 per share, implying a 3.9% yield.

Newport Trust Company LLC lowered its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,458,036 shares of the bank's stock after selling 173,224 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC owned 0.66% of Huntington Bancshares worth $181,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HBAN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,319,041 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,319,385,000 after purchasing an additional 14,338,222 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $85,690,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,230,988 shares of the bank's stock worth $594,054,000 after purchasing an additional 4,640,302 shares during the last quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,333,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 9,676,829 shares of the bank's stock worth $167,119,000 after purchasing an additional 3,138,669 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HBAN shares. Evercore decreased their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Barclays downgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $19.50 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.05.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In related news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 65,530 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $1,001,298.40. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 481,676 shares in the company, valued at $7,360,009.28. This trade represents a 11.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James D. Rollins III bought 3,029 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.05 per share, for a total transaction of $63,760.45. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $199,975. This trade represents a 46.81% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $503,822. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of HBAN stock opened at $15.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52-week low of $14.89 and a 52-week high of $19.45. The company has a market capitalization of $32.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.96. The business's fifty day moving average is $15.96 and its 200 day moving average is $16.75.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.21. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 47.69%.

Huntington Bancshares Company 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.