Prana Capital Management LP Sells 1,211,198 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Prana Capital Management LP lessened its stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,599,518 shares of the bank's stock after selling 1,211,198 shares during the period. Huntington Bancshares comprises about 1.2% of Prana Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Prana Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.11% of Huntington Bancshares worth $26,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HBAN. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 379,762 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,179,000 after purchasing an additional 20,598 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 125,000 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,034,000 after buying an additional 7,964 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $392,000. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 175,578 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $779,000. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HBAN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Baird R W raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $16.50 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.50 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Argus set a $17.00 target price on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.58.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 0.7%

HBAN stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $16.01. 5,761,084 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,734,899. The stock has a market cap of $23.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $11.92 and a 1 year high of $18.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $14.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.98.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares's payout ratio is 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In related 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 3,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.50, for a total transaction of $49,793.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 66,847 shares in the company, valued at $969,281.50. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105 over the last quarter. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Huntington Bancshares 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.