Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Purchases 37,828 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 125.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,978 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,828 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HBAN. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $1,485,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 541,550 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,888,000 after acquiring an additional 40,263 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in Huntington Bancshares by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 26,161 shares of the bank’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 5,607 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 225,470 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,868,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oder Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Oder Investment Management LLC now owns 71,543 shares of the bank’s stock worth $910,000 after buying an additional 4,836 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of HBAN stock opened at $13.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $20.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.09. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52 week low of $9.13 and a 52 week high of $14.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.48 and a 200-day moving average of $12.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 15.86% and a return on equity of 11.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.86%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, VP Julie C. Tutkovics sold 15,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $197,059.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 303,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,847,809.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Julie C. Tutkovics sold 15,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction 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 $3,847,809.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ann B. Crane sold 58,000 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total value of $785,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 192,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,603,024.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 224,092 shares of company stock valued at $3,031,731 over the last ninety days. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HBAN shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $16.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.17.

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.