Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 15,335 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 214,612 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,335 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $3,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,381,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $422,000. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $1,460,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 844,466 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,414,000 after buying an additional 44,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Petiole USA ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,454,000. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HBAN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (up previously from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Baird R W raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $18.50 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.35.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of HBAN opened at $14.28 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.12. The company has a market capitalization of $20.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $12.05 and a fifty-two week high of $18.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its 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 net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.41%.

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.