Huntington Bancshares' (HBAN) "Strong-Buy" Rating Reiterated at Raymond James Financial

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "strong-buy" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Raymond James Financial in a research report issued to clients and investors 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 would suggest a potential upside of 20.69% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on HBAN. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.48.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.40. 15,236,150 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,462,061. Huntington Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $11.91 and a fifty-two week high of $18.44. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $15.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.69. The stock has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In related news, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total transaction of $964,008.73. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 326,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,469,182.64. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 13,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.79, for a total transaction of $216,323.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 337,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,335,109.41. This represents a 3.90% 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 over the last quarter. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBAN. First Bank & Trust lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 205,501 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,444,000 after acquiring an additional 11,372 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 356,096 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,968,000 after acquiring an additional 22,190 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 3.2% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 124,987 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,095,000 after buying an additional 3,850 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in Huntington Bancshares by 52.7% during the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 235,674 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,950,000 after purchasing an additional 81,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 50.8% during the 2nd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 45,153 shares of the bank's stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 15,220 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Company 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.