Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases Shares of 274,752 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 274,752 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $4,039,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HBAN. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 200.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 695.5% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 2,291 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 2,003 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the third quarter worth $32,000. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HBAN shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $16.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.62.

Insider Activity

In other Huntington Bancshares news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total value of $152,393.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 259,943 shares in the company, valued at $4,582,795.09. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, 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 three months, insiders sold 43,699 shares of company stock worth $757,356. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ HBAN opened at $18.01 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $26.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.03. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52 week low of $11.10 and a 52 week high of $18.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.61.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. Research analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

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.