Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 50.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,868 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,450 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $1,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HBAN. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 170,257 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,555,000 after buying an additional 4,525 shares during the last quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC raised its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC now owns 27,869 shares of the bank’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 7,302 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 14.1% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Bell Bank now owns 597,553 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,969,000 after buying an additional 39,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 183,604 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,784,000 after buying an additional 5,785 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Up 0.7%

HBAN stock opened at $15.84 on Friday. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52 week low of $11.92 and a 52 week high of $18.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.92.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, April 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $17.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cowen assumed coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.08.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In related news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 59,060 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.36, for a total value of $848,101.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 277,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,982,717.28. This represents a 17.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 13,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.79, for a total value of $216,323.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 337,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,335,109.41. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,617 shares of company stock valued at $3,113,982 over the last 90 days. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Huntington Bancshares 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.