Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 680,601 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 0.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 176,980,819 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 680,601 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Huntington Bancshares worth $3,056,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LifeWealth Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 2.3% in the second quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC now owns 28,501 shares of the bank’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,081 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Planning Inc. boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Planning Inc. now owns 199,318 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,442,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1.0% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 73,147 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.1% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 27,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $17.89 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.86 and a 200 day moving average of $17.02. The company has a market cap of $28.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12-month low of $11.91 and a 12-month high of $19.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 17.71%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 2,481 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total transaction of $44,161.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 71,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,273,874.80. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 17,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total value of $330,423.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 42,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,594.14. The trade was a 29.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 114,732 shares of company stock worth $1,923,233 in the last three months. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HBAN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.60.

Huntington Bancshares Company Profile

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.