Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Stock Holdings Lessened by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada cut its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,985,662 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 388,021 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.27% of Huntington Bancshares worth $64,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBAN. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 56,219 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 22,022 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 9,441 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $397,000. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Huntington Bancshares by 61.0% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,451 shares of the bank’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 18,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Huntington Bancshares by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 6,274 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HBAN opened at $15.94 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $14.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.98. The company has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $11.92 and a 12 month high of $18.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 17th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HBAN. Citigroup reduced their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.58.

Insider Activity

In other Huntington Bancshares news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total value of $552,925.38. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,538 shares in the company, valued at $4,825,036.44. This represents a 10.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total value of $964,008.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 326,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,469,182.64. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

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.