Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $17.97 and last traded at $17.97, with a volume of 2482753 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HBAN shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Baird R W cut Huntington Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.26.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.43. The firm has a market cap of $25.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 14.19%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total transaction of $505,362.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 496,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,765,662.92. This trade represents a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total transaction of $99,600.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 558,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,615,217.06. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,699 shares of company stock valued at $757,356. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 10.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,474,115 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,179,319,000 after purchasing an additional 7,439,909 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 62,708,399 shares of the bank’s stock worth $921,778,000 after buying an additional 1,522,767 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 56,175,987 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $783,215,000 after purchasing an additional 9,533,511 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 36,880,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $540,422,000 after acquiring an additional 473,893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,719,168 shares of the bank’s stock worth $348,672,000 after purchasing an additional 3,410,597 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.