Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Stock Price

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 34.51% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $21.00 price target on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.53.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of HBAN traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,749,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,488,395. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Huntington Bancshares has a one year low of $11.91 and a one year high of $19.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.84.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 17.71%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Huntington Bancshares news, Director Gary Torgow purchased 14,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.81 per share, with a total value of $252,902.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 943,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,800,903.21. The trade was a 1.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Prashant Nateri sold 10,171 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider directly owned 83,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,299,194.50. This represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 27,700 shares of company stock valued at $540,401 and have sold 108,986 shares valued at $1,785,958. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,319,041 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,319,385,000 after acquiring an additional 14,338,222 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Huntington Bancshares by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 77,228,656 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,351,806,000 after purchasing an additional 3,438,501 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 4,265.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 70,083,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,215,955,000 after purchasing an additional 68,478,435 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 63,302,953 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,091,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363,905 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 62,971,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,092,562,000 after purchasing an additional 3,908,927 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Huntington Bancshares

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.