Woodline Partners LP Takes $1.42 Million Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 87,247 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,420,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 19,192 shares of the bank's stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 297,134 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,834,000 after acquiring an additional 10,191 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 13,766 shares of the bank's stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 21,887 shares of the bank's stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 160,578 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,613,000 after acquiring an additional 52,185 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 25,419 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.68, for a total transaction of $347,731.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 70,281 shares of the company's stock, valued at $961,444.08. The trade was a 26.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 3,521 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.25, for a total value of $53,695.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 47,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $731,237.50. This represents a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 1.3%

NASDAQ HBAN traded down $0.20 on Wednesday, hitting $15.56. 21,951,987 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,082,663. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $14.58 and a 200 day moving average of $15.94. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a twelve month low of $11.92 and a twelve month high of $18.45. The company has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Huntington Bancshares declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on HBAN. Baird R W upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $16.50 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Argus set a $17.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.50 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.