Vest Financial LLC Sells 136,265 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC trimmed its HBAN stake by 43.9%
• Huntington beat Q1 estimates with $0.37 EPS (vs. $0.16 expected) and $2.59B revenue, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.155 (annualized $0.62) yielding about 3.8%.
• Analysts show a mixed view but a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $20.08 price target; several firms cut targets or ratings (including a Barclays downgrade to "strong sell").

Vest Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 43.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,831 shares of the bank's stock after selling 136,265 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $3,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Altrius Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,894,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 176,980,819 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,056,459,000 after acquiring an additional 680,601 shares during the period. Midwest Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 1,510,977 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,095,000 after acquiring an additional 170,240 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,746,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 9,238,142 shares of the bank's stock valued at $159,543,000 after acquiring an additional 314,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on HBAN. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Barclays cut Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $21.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.08.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Down 1.5%

HBAN opened at $16.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $16.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.72. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a one year low of $14.19 and a one year high of $19.45. 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 (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.21. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.42% and a net margin of 16.63%.The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntington Bancshares news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 65,530 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $1,001,298.40. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 17,455 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total value of $330,423.15. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 42,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,594.14. The trade was a 29.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 39,200 shares of company stock valued at $756,724 and have sold 98,986 shares valued at $1,600,958. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Huntington Bancshares

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.