Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $15.00 to $16.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Huntington Bancshares traded as high as $14.04 and last traded at $13.95, with a volume of 3114947 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.60.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $12.50 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Bank of America raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.97.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ann B. Crane sold 58,000 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total value of $785,320.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 192,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,603,024.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Ann B. Crane sold 58,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total value of $785,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 192,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,603,024.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Julie C. Tutkovics sold 15,541 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $197,059.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 303,455 shares in the company, valued at $3,847,809.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 102,241 shares of company stock worth $1,360,359. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Huntington Bancshares by 11.8% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 189,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,765,000 after buying an additional 19,959 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $315,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 309.4% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 10,001 shares of the bank’s stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 40.9% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 104,361 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 30,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 58.2% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 798,754 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,678,000 after purchasing an additional 293,944 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $20.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 19th. The bank reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 12.96%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

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.