Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.83.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cowen assumed coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Baird R W upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HBAN traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.76. 23,906,256 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,065,770. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Huntington Bancshares has a 52-week low of $11.91 and a 52-week high of $18.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50 day moving average price is $14.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.94.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.33%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 3,521 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.25, for a total transaction of $53,695.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $731,237.50. The trade was a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total value of $552,925.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,825,036.44. This trade represents a 10.28% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HBAN. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 220.9% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,666,949 shares of the bank's stock valued at $59,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524,077 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 850,139 shares of the bank's stock valued at $13,832,000 after buying an additional 129,106 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $422,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $189,000. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $862,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

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.