Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Short Interest Down 6.6% in April

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,160,000 shares, a decrease of 6.6% from the March 31st total of 26,950,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 17,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 15,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.47, for a total transaction of $214,819.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,102 shares in the company, valued at $284,243.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Julie C. Tutkovics sold 15,541 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $197,059.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 303,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,847,809.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 15,948 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.47, for a total transaction of $214,819.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,243.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 169,489 shares of company stock worth $2,286,999. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the first quarter worth $29,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 140.9% in the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HBAN. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $14.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. DA Davidson raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $14.00 to $15.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.17.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:HBAN traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.58. The stock had a trading volume of 6,357,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,461,875. The business’s 50 day moving average is $13.39 and its 200 day moving average is $12.33. Huntington Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $9.13 and a fifty-two week high of $14.07. The stock has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 15.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 55.86%.

Huntington Bancshares Company Profile

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.