Vista Investment Partners II LLC Boosts Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC boosted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 1.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 112,744 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,176 shares during the quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $1,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HBAN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $302,826,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $150,444,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank’s stock worth $528,434,000 after purchasing an additional 8,759,871 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 126.6% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 7,048,773 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,684,000 after purchasing an additional 3,938,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 17,435,207 shares of the bank’s stock worth $286,460,000 after acquiring an additional 3,671,235 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $16.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.67. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $11.92 and a 12 month high of $18.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 13,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.79, for a total value of $216,323.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 337,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,335,109.41. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 59,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.36, for a total value of $848,101.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 277,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,982,717.28. This trade represents a 17.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 214,375 shares of company stock worth $3,049,277. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HBAN. TD Cowen began coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Finally, Baird R W raised Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.08.

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.