Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Reduces Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lessened its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,455,508 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,575 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $21,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 17,533.3% in the fourth quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 1,587 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the period. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the first quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total transaction of $964,008.73. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 326,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,469,182.64. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 3,521 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.25, for a total value of $53,695.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $731,237.50. The trade was a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 204,917 shares of company stock valued at $2,897,659. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HBAN shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Cowen assumed coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.83.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $15.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average is $14.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.80. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52 week low of $11.92 and a 52 week high of $18.45. 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 (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 17th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

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.