Driehaus Capital Management LLC Takes $428,000 Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 26,279 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 17,533.3% during the fourth quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 1,587 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 126.8% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,830 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HBAN. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $16.50 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Argus set a $17.00 target price on Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.45.

Insider Activity

In other Huntington Bancshares news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total transaction of $552,925.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,825,036.44. The trade was a 10.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of the 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 owns 326,456 shares in the company, valued at $4,469,182.64. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ HBAN opened at $15.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $22.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.95. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a one year low of $11.92 and a one year high of $18.45.

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

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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 $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 17th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.