Huntington Bancshares’ (HBAN) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $15.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

HBAN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $15.17.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

HBAN opened at $13.58 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Huntington Bancshares has a 1 year low of $9.13 and a 1 year high of $14.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.11.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 15.86% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 55.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Julie C. Tutkovics sold 15,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $197,059.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 303,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,847,809.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Ann B. Crane sold 58,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total value of $785,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 192,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,603,024.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Julie C. Tutkovics sold 15,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $197,059.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 303,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,847,809.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 198,189 shares of company stock worth $2,664,978 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBAN. Boston Partners boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 46,642,476 shares of the bank’s stock worth $593,408,000 after purchasing an additional 17,365,446 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $206,703,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 715.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,251,631 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,081,000 after purchasing an additional 3,729,974 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 23.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,925,067 shares of the bank’s stock worth $186,421,000 after purchasing an additional 3,438,552 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 641.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,775,356 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,301,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,067 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.