Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. 6,814,982 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the previous session’s volume of 17,384,248 shares.The stock last traded at $13.10 and had previously closed at $13.18.

The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 12.96%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.67%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. DA Davidson upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $15.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.97.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, Director Ann B. Crane sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total transaction of $785,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 192,247 shares in the company, valued at $2,603,024.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Helga Houston sold 28,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total value of $377,979.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 568,222 shares in the company, valued at $7,483,483.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ann B. Crane sold 58,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total transaction of $785,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 192,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,603,024.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 102,241 shares of company stock worth $1,360,359. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 172,069,244 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,789,520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209,264 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.5% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 137,586,195 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,540,965,000 after acquiring an additional 652,310 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 46,642,476 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $593,408,000 after acquiring an additional 17,365,446 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,744,281 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $468,725,000 after acquiring an additional 245,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 5.0% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,820,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $355,630,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516,892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.15.

About Huntington Bancshares

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.