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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) from a "strong sell" to a "sell" rating, a modest improvement in sentiment but still a negative stance.
• Huntington beat Q1 expectations with adjusted EPS of $0.37 (vs. $0.16 est.), maintained its quarterly dividend ($0.155/share), and management highlighted AI initiatives as a medium‑term growth/efficiency driver.
• Overall analyst consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $20.13; the stock trades near $16.40 with a 12‑month range of $14.19–$19.45 and a market cap of about $33.4 billion.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on HBAN. UBS Group set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore decreased their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell 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 $20.13.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HBAN opened at $16.40 on Friday. Huntington Bancshares has a twelve month low of $14.19 and a twelve month high of $19.45. The firm has a market cap of $33.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.31 and a 200 day moving average of $16.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.21. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 17,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total transaction of $330,423.15. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 42,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $802,594.14. The trade was a 29.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 65,530 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total transaction of $1,001,298.40. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 481,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,360,009.28. The trade was a 11.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 27,700 shares of company stock worth $540,401 and have sold 98,986 shares worth $1,600,958. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HBAN. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 4,265.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 70,083,841 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,215,955,000 after acquiring an additional 68,478,435 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $432,584,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,319,041 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,319,385,000 after acquiring an additional 14,338,222 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $85,690,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,230,988 shares of the bank's stock valued at $594,054,000 after acquiring an additional 4,640,302 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Huntington Bancshares

Here are the key news stories impacting Huntington Bancshares this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations: HBAN reported adjusted EPS of $0.37 and revenue roughly in line with estimates, driven by higher net interest income and fee income — a clear near-term earnings positive. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated Reports 2026 First-Quarter Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend maintained and declared: Board approved a quarterly dividend (0.155/share) supporting yield (~3.8%), which tends to underpin investor confidence in payout sustainability. Huntington Bancshares Maintains Quarterly Common and Preferred Dividends
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic focus on AI led from the CFO — management highlights AI initiatives and digital strategy as drivers of efficiency and growth, a medium-term positive for margins and competitive positioning. At Huntington Bancshares, the CFO is also the AI strategist
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst momentum: Piper upgraded HBAN to Neutral citing increasing positives, which may attract some buyers. Huntington Bancshares upgraded to Neutral at Piper
• Neutral Sentiment: FY2027 guidance in line with consensus: Company set EPS guidance of $1.900–1.930, essentially matching street estimates — removes surprise upside but reduces downside risk from guidance revisions.
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholder vote reaffirmed board/governance direction at the annual meeting, providing governance stability but limited immediate market impact. Huntington Bancshares Shareholders Reaffirm Board and Governance Direction
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest report is effectively zero/garbled for April 24 (data shows 0 shares), so there’s no meaningful short squeeze dynamic to amplify moves today.
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley trimmed its price target from $21 to $20 (still Overweight) — a downward revision to analyst upside that can pressure the stock and feeds into today’s selling. Morgan Stanley trims price target on Huntington Bancshares to $20 from $21

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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