Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Trims Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. cut its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 58.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,619 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 47,005 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBAN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 64,926,419 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,056,353,000 after buying an additional 2,218,020 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 52,599,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $855,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310,502 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank’s stock worth $528,434,000 after purchasing an additional 8,759,871 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,825,092 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $355,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,606 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $302,826,000. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of HBAN stock opened at $14.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.89. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $11.92 and a fifty-two week high of $18.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.99.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 17th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 326,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,469,182.64. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $1,013,520.96. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 453,129 shares in the company, valued at $6,647,402.43. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 211,051 shares of company stock worth $2,992,685. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HBAN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus set a $17.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday. Baird R W raised Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.45.

Huntington Bancshares 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.