Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 600,085 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 600,085 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $9,763,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 220.9% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,666,949 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,661,000 after buying an additional 2,524,077 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 850,139 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,832,000 after buying an additional 129,106 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $422,000. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,460,000. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 314,999 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,125,000 after purchasing an additional 19,123 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on HBAN. Citigroup dropped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $17.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.50 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.45.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, insider Helga Houston sold 42,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.72, for a total value of $623,318.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 592,119 shares in the company, valued at $8,715,991.68. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total transaction of $964,008.73. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 326,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,469,182.64. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105 in the last quarter. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $15.22 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.96. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12-month low of $11.92 and a 12-month high of $18.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 17th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.