Kendall A. Kowalski Sells 3,434 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Stock

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 3,434 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.50, for a total transaction of $49,793.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 66,847 shares in the company, valued at $969,281.50. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $14.64 on Wednesday. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $11.92 and a fifty-two week high of $18.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $14.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 217,798 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,269,000 after buying an additional 4,020 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth $166,000. HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 111.7% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 7,018 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 3,703 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the first quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.6% during the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 53,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HBAN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.50 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird raised Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Argus set a $17.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $17.50 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.45.

Huntington Bancshares Company 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.