Norges Bank Takes Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,612,539 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $302,826,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HBAN. Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,381,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $422,000. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,460,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 844,466 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,414,000 after acquiring an additional 44,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,797,771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,901,000 after buying an additional 55,602 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

HBAN stock opened at $14.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $21.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.14. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a one year low of $12.05 and a one year high of $18.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $1,013,520.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 453,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,647,402.43. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total transaction of $552,925.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,825,036.44. This represents a 10.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,781 shares of company stock valued at $1,631,151 in the last quarter. 0.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HBAN shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $18.50 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (up from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.18.

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.