Cardinal Capital Management Boosts Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Cardinal Capital Management boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 183,604 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 5,785 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $2,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,827 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 44,742 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 16,825 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $182,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,316,000. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 450,031 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,755,000 after buying an additional 22,017 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HBAN. 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. Argus set a $17.00 target price on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cowen assumed coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.08.

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares 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 value of $964,008.73. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 326,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,469,182.64. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 13,700 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.79, for a total transaction of $216,323.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 337,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,335,109.41. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 218,617 shares of company stock worth $3,113,982 over the last quarter. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HBAN opened at $15.70 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $15.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.73. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52-week low of $11.92 and a 52-week high of $18.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced 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. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Huntington Bancshares

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.