Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 489,300 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 27.1% in the first quarter, buying 489,300 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 2,296,403 shares worth about $35.9 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 80.72% of Huntington Bancshares' stock held by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Several other firms also boosted their positions during the period.
• Huntington Bancshares reported stronger-than-expected earnings of $0.37 per share on revenue of $2.59 billion, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $20.25.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 27.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,296,403 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 489,300 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Huntington Bancshares worth $35,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 533,005 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,248,000 after acquiring an additional 104,965 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 688.9% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 86,478 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 75,516 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,820,816 shares of the bank's stock worth $48,941,000 after purchasing an additional 395,489 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,161,085 shares of the bank's stock worth $141,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 991.7% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 67,588 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 61,397 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens started coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, June 15th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.25.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of HBAN opened at $18.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a one year low of $14.89 and a one year high of $19.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.90 and a 200 day moving average of $16.92.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.42% and a net margin of 16.63%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th were paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 47.69%.

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.

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.