Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 103,400 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,618,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,888 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 122,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,844,000 after buying an additional 35,574 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Huntington Bancshares by 8.3% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 39,490 shares of the bank’s stock worth $662,000 after buying an additional 3,023 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 6.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 219,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,674,000 after buying an additional 12,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 6.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 707,605 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,859,000 after buying an additional 41,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of HBAN stock opened at $18.11 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.90. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a twelve month low of $14.89 and a twelve month high of $19.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.21. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.42% and a net margin of 16.63%.The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 10,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $190,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 267,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,821,462. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director James D. Rollins III sold 223,522 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.35, for a total transaction of $3,878,106.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 612,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,620,889.25. The trade was a 26.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 33,500 shares of company stock valued at $617,542. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HBAN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $18.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.15.

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.