Graham Capital Management L.P. Buys 309,439 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 2,174.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 323,669 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 309,439 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $5,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carlson Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 163,575 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,661,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the bank's stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the bank's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 20,019 shares of the bank's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC raised its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 13,766 shares of the bank's stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Huntington Bancshares stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.00. 821,244 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,517,401. The company has a market cap of $23.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $14.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.96. 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $11.92 and a 52 week high of $18.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. Equities 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 authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.88%. Huntington Bancshares's payout ratio is 47.33%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $6,647,402.43. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total value of $964,008.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 326,456 shares in the company, valued at $4,469,182.64. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on HBAN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus set a $17.00 price target on Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.50 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.45.

Huntington Bancshares Profile

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.