Analysts Set Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Price Target at $17.83

Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.83.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen started coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $17.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 21st.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $15.76 on Friday. 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 $23.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $14.58 and its 200 day moving average is $15.94. Huntington Bancshares has a 52 week low of $11.92 and a 52 week high of $18.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 17th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Huntington Bancshares news, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total transaction of $964,008.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 326,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,469,182.64. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 25,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.68, for a total value of $347,731.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 70,281 shares in the company, valued at $961,444.08. This trade represents a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 312,456 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,105 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $302,826,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $150,444,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank’s stock worth $528,434,000 after acquiring an additional 8,759,871 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 274.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,758,669 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $157,292,000 after acquiring an additional 7,889,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,186,593 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $858,371,000 after purchasing an additional 4,586,607 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.