Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Stock Price

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $23.00 to $21.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 32.24% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on HBAN. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group set a $21.00 price objective on Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.43.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $15.88 on Tuesday. Huntington Bancshares has a twelve month low of $11.91 and a twelve month high of $19.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $32.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $16.82 and its 200 day moving average is $16.81.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 11.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Amit Dhingra sold 10,000 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total value of $185,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 155,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,879,229. The trade was a 6.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Torgow purchased 14,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.81 per share, with a total value of $252,902.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 943,341 shares in the company, valued at $16,800,903.21. This represents a 1.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 27,700 shares of company stock valued at $540,401 and have sold 108,986 shares valued at $1,785,958. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HBAN. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,161,085 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,625,000 after buying an additional 1,652,464 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 157,998 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,741,000 after acquiring an additional 11,363 shares during the period. Fund Advisors of America Inc FL purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $222,000. World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 23,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 755,843 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,115,000 after acquiring an additional 43,618 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.