Westpac Banking Corp Buys 4,045 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 91.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,478 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,045 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBAN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $302,826,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $150,444,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,474,115 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,179,319,000 after buying an additional 7,439,909 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 17,435,207 shares of the bank’s stock worth $286,460,000 after acquiring an additional 3,671,235 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 220.9% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,666,949 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,524,077 shares in the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $12.60 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. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $12.05 and a fifty-two week high of $18.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.13. The company has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share 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. Research analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 50.41%.

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In related news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total transaction of $552,925.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,825,036.44. This represents a 10.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 453,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,647,402.43. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,781 shares of company stock worth $1,631,151 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HBAN shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $18.50 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $17.50 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.94.

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.