Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Sees Strong Trading Volume on Strong Earnings

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. Approximately 6,814,982 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the previous session’s volume of 17,384,248 shares.The stock last traded at $13.10 and had previously closed at $13.18.

The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 12.96%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.67%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HBAN shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.97.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Huntington Bancshares news, Director Ann B. Crane sold 58,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total value of $785,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 192,247 shares in the company, valued at $2,603,024.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Julie C. Tutkovics sold 15,541 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $197,059.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 303,455 shares in the company, valued at $3,847,809.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ann B. Crane sold 58,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total value of $785,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 192,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,603,024.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 102,241 shares of company stock worth $1,360,359 in the last quarter. 0.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 140.9% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.15. The company has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.11.

About Huntington Bancshares

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.