Vest Financial LLC Increases Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 154,459 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,218 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $2,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its position in Huntington Bancshares by 17,533.3% during the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 1,587 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,578 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total value of $964,008.73. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 326,456 shares in the company, valued at $4,469,182.64. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total transaction of $552,925.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,825,036.44. The trade was a 10.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of HBAN opened at $16.22 on Friday. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52 week low of $11.92 and a 52 week high of $18.45. The stock has a market cap of $23.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.83. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HBAN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.83.

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.