Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $20.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on HBAN. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Baird R W raised Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.83.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ HBAN opened at $15.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Huntington Bancshares has a 52-week low of $11.92 and a 52-week high of $18.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $14.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.97.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 17th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Helga Houston sold 42,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.72, for a total value of $623,318.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 592,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,715,991.68. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $1,013,520.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 453,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,647,402.43. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HBAN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $302,826,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $150,444,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $528,434,000 after acquiring an additional 8,759,871 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 274.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,758,669 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $157,292,000 after acquiring an additional 7,889,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 8.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,186,593 shares of the bank’s stock worth $858,371,000 after acquiring an additional 4,586,607 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.