Nuveen Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,342,519 shares of the bank's stock after selling 31,053 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Huntington Bancshares worth $54,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 64,926,419 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,056,353,000 after buying an additional 2,218,020 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 52,599,986 shares of the bank's stock valued at $855,802,000 after buying an additional 2,310,502 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank's stock valued at $528,434,000 after buying an additional 8,759,871 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,825,092 shares of the bank's stock valued at $355,094,000 after buying an additional 1,506,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $302,826,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total value of $1,013,520.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 453,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,647,402.43. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 25,419 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.68, for a total value of $347,731.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 70,281 shares in the company, valued at $961,444.08. This represents a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Down 0.7%

HBAN traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $15.32. 25,782,903 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,043,730. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.96. The firm has a market cap of $22.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 1 year low of $11.92 and a 1 year 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.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for 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 period last year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 17th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. Huntington Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.50 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. TD Cowen started coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Baird R W raised Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.83.

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.