Raymond James Financial Reaffirms Strong-Buy Rating for Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "strong-buy" rating reissued by research analysts at Raymond James Financial in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $21.00 price target on the bank's stock, up from their previous price target of $18.00. Raymond James Financial's price target suggests a potential upside of 20.14% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $16.50 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Argus set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.48.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 0.3%

Huntington Bancshares stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.48. 25,220,914 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,116,739. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Huntington Bancshares has a twelve month low of $11.92 and a twelve month high of $18.45. The company has a market cap of $25.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $15.94 and a 200-day moving average of $15.69.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 59,060 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.36, for a total value of $848,101.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 277,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,982,717.28. The trade was a 17.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total transaction of $964,008.73. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 326,456 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,469,182.64. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 214,375 shares of company stock worth $3,049,277 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HBAN. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 52.7% in the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 235,674 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,950,000 after acquiring an additional 81,333 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 50.8% in the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 45,153 shares of the bank's stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 15,220 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 1,497.1% during the second quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 286,896 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,853,000 after buying an additional 268,933 shares in the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $976,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company's stock.

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.