KBC Group NV Trims Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

KBC Group NV cut its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 62.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,060,966 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,764,322 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $17,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $992,000. AXA S.A. lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 113.2% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 93,089 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 49,425 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,558,919 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,165,000 after purchasing an additional 24,487 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 180.8% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 161,512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after buying an additional 104,000 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 14.2% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 142,805 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 17,804 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,765,662.92. This represents a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total value of $152,393.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 259,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,582,795.09. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HBAN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sandler O’Neill reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 price target (up from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.06.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

HBAN opened at $17.23 on Wednesday. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $12.05 and a 12-month high of $18.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.07.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 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%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.41%.

Huntington Bancshares Profile

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.