Barclays Downgrades Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) to Strong Sell

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.13.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

HBAN stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $16.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,992,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,945,824. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.36 and its 200-day moving average is $16.72. The company has a market capitalization of $34.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.95. Huntington Bancshares has a 1 year low of $14.07 and a 1 year high of $19.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.03). Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In related news, insider Prashant Nateri sold 10,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.50, for a total value of $157,650.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 83,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,299,194.50. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Torgow purchased 14,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.81 per share, for a total transaction of $252,902.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 943,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,800,903.21. This represents a 1.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 27,700 shares of company stock valued at $540,401 and sold 98,986 shares valued at $1,600,958. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. South Plains Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 1,536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 374.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

About Huntington Bancshares

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN) is a bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, Huntington National Bank. The company’s operations are centered on retail and commercial banking, and it serves individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, and institutional customers.

Huntington’s product offerings include traditional deposit and lending products, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, auto financing, and business banking solutions.