Norges Bank Invests $432.58 Million in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 24,932,767 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $432,584,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. South Plains Financial Inc. grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 1,536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 374.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 403.1% in the 4th quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 2,611 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 2,092 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HBAN. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.05.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Down 3.2%

NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $15.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52-week low of $14.89 and a 52-week high of $19.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.77.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.42% and a net margin of 16.63%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 47.69%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, insider Prashant Nateri sold 10,171 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.50, for a total transaction of $157,650.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 83,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,299,194.50. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 65,530 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.28, for a total value of $1,001,298.40. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 481,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,360,009.28. This trade represents a 11.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 12,712 shares of company stock valued at $246,438 in the last 90 days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Company Profile

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.