Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Takes $2.88 Million Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 177,140 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,882,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $302,826,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $150,444,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank's stock valued at $528,434,000 after buying an additional 8,759,871 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 126.6% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 7,048,773 shares of the bank's stock valued at $114,684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,938,769 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 17,435,207 shares of the bank's stock worth $286,460,000 after acquiring an additional 3,671,235 shares in the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total value of $1,013,520.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 453,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,647,402.43. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Helga Houston sold 42,345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now directly owns 592,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,715,991.68. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Huntington Bancshares stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Monday, hitting $16.14. The stock had a trading volume of 6,792,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,732,963. The stock has a market cap of $23.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $11.92 and a 12 month high of $18.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $14.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.97. 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 (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on HBAN. Cowen began coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Argus set a $17.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $16.50 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.58.

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.