Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 485,507 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 101,103 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $8,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HBAN. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 475,156 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,264,000 after buying an additional 10,802 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,320 shares of the bank’s stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 389,988 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,766,000 after buying an additional 34,728 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 241.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,372,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,820,000 after buying an additional 971,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $321,000. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, insider Prashant Nateri sold 10,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.50, for a total transaction of $157,650.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 83,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,299,194.50. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James D. Rollins III purchased 3,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.05 per share, for a total transaction of $63,760.45. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $199,975. This trade represents a 46.81% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $503,822 in the last 90 days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore reduced their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays lowered shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $19.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.05.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HBAN opened at $15.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.96. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $14.89 and a 12 month high of $19.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.57 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 11.42%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. Analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.69%.

About Huntington Bancshares

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN) is a bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, Huntington National Bank. The company’s operations are centered on retail and commercial banking, and it serves individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, and institutional customers.

Huntington’s product offerings include traditional deposit and lending products, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, auto financing, and business banking solutions.