Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Price Target Raised to $23.00

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

HBAN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group set a $21.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.69.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $16.83 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Huntington Bancshares has a twelve month low of $11.91 and a twelve month high of $19.45. The company has a market cap of $34.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $17.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.08.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 17.71%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 44.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 5,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.14, for a total transaction of $111,586.20. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 327,676 shares in the company, valued at $6,271,718.64. This trade represents a 1.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 17,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total value of $330,423.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 42,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,594.14. The trade was a 29.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders bought 26,488 shares of company stock valued at $510,286 and sold 50,145 shares valued at $929,885. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 40.8% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 122,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,844,000 after purchasing an additional 35,574 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 11.0% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,478 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 154.8% during the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 75,476 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 45,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 7,015 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.