Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment on Huntington Bancshares is moderately positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from 20 analysts and an average 12-month price target of $20.05.
• The company recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, earning $0.37 per share versus estimates of $0.16, while revenue also slightly topped forecasts at $2.59 billion.
• Huntington announced a quarterly dividend of $0.155 per share, equal to a 3.9% annualized yield, even as insiders sold shares and the stock traded near $15.93.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.05.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HBAN. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays lowered Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Evercore reduced their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $21.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Prashant Nateri sold 10,171 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.50, for a total transaction of $157,650.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 83,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,299,194.50. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 65,530 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought 12,712 shares of company stock valued at $246,438 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altrius Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,894,000. Midwest Trust Co raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 1,510,977 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,095,000 after purchasing an additional 170,240 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 176,980,819 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,056,459,000 after purchasing an additional 680,601 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 9,238,142 shares of the bank's stock valued at $159,543,000 after purchasing an additional 314,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fieldview Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC now owns 478,852 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,270,000 after purchasing an additional 65,828 shares in the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $15.93 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $16.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Huntington Bancshares has a 12-month low of $14.89 and a 12-month high of $19.45. The firm has a market cap of $32.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.94.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $2.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 47.69%.

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.

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