Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Sell"

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. TD Cowen began coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Cowen began coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Wolfe Research raised Huntington Bancshares from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.48.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

HBAN traded down $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,466,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,985,327. Huntington Bancshares has a twelve month low of $11.92 and a twelve month high of $18.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $16.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.71.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, insider Helga Houston sold 42,345 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.72, for a total value of $623,318.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 592,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,715,991.68. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. 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 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 337,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,335,109.41. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 214,375 shares of company stock worth $3,049,277 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $302,826,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank's stock worth $528,434,000 after acquiring an additional 8,759,871 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 274.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,758,669 shares of the bank's stock valued at $157,292,000 after acquiring an additional 7,889,004 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 8.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,186,593 shares of the bank's stock valued at $858,371,000 after acquiring an additional 4,586,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 22,011,639 shares of the bank's stock valued at $330,395,000 after buying an additional 4,576,432 shares during the last quarter. 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.