Vista Investment Partners II LLC Buys Shares of 111,568 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 111,568 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,815,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 17,533.3% in the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 1,587 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 126.8% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,830 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ HBAN opened at $15.14 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12-month low of $12.05 and a 12-month high of $18.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.13. The company has a market cap of $22.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 50.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HBAN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (up previously from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.24.

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.