Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on HBAN. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $16.50 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $15.59.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ HBAN opened at $13.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.43. Huntington Bancshares has a 1 year low of $9.25 and a 1 year high of $15.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 55.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Helga Houston sold 7,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.64, for a total value of $99,271.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 648,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,851,050.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Helga Houston sold 7,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.64, for a total transaction of $99,271.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 648,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,851,050.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 9,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.06, for a total value of $136,293.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,331.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 123,900 shares of company stock valued at $1,862,176 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 20.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 56,175,987 shares of the bank’s stock worth $783,215,000 after acquiring an additional 9,533,511 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,954,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $236,640,000 after buying an additional 65,355 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $206,703,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,810,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $208,346,000 after purchasing an additional 561,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 7,403,303 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,276,000 after acquiring an additional 225,911 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.