Huntington Bancshares Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 6,134 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 111% compared to the average volume of 2,910 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HBAN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $18.50 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.24.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of HBAN traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 27,567,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,780,895. Huntington Bancshares has a 52-week low of $14.89 and a 52-week high of $19.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $17.36 and its 200-day moving average is $16.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.39. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 16.64%.The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. Huntington Bancshares has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.930 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 48.06%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 27,971 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total value of $481,101.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 70,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,204,430. The trade was a 28.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 10,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $190,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 267,859 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,462. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,134,426,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,171,993 shares of the bank’s stock worth $746,257,000 after buying an additional 3,074,673 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,412,989 shares of the bank’s stock worth $649,115,000 after purchasing an additional 3,182,001 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $432,584,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 23,480,601 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $367,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,026,894 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Company Profile

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Its principal subsidiary, The Huntington National Bank, provides banking and financial services to consumers, businesses, institutions and government entities.

The company offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, lending products, mortgage banking, wealth management, investment services, insurance, payment solutions and treasury management. Its lending activities include residential mortgages, auto loans, consumer credit, small-business financing and commercial loans.

Founded in 1866, Huntington serves customers through branches, digital banking channels and business offices across the Midwest and other selected markets.