38,964 Shares in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Acquired by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 38,964 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $634,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 200.7% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $17.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $12.02 and a 12 month high of $18.44.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 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 14.19% and a return on equity of 10.72%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total value of $152,393.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 259,943 shares in the company, valued at $4,582,795.09. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total value of $505,362.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 496,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,765,662.92. The trade was a 5.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,699 shares of company stock valued at $757,356. Company insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HBAN. Sandler O’Neill reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 target price (up previously from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.76.

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.