Citigroup Raises Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Price Target to $20.00

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) had its target price raised by Citigroup from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.50 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.33.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

HBAN opened at $17.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $25.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.93. Huntington Bancshares has a 1 year low of $11.92 and a 1 year high of $18.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. The business 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 47.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Helga Houston sold 42,345 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.72, for a total value of $623,318.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 592,119 shares in the company, valued at $8,715,991.68. This trade represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total value of $964,008.73. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 326,456 shares in the company, valued at $4,469,182.64. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 214,375 shares of company stock valued at $3,049,277. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1,497.1% during the 2nd quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 286,896 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,853,000 after buying an additional 268,933 shares in the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the second quarter valued at about $220,000. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the first quarter valued at about $976,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 0.4% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 422,108 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory boosted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 3.7% in the first quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 34,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

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.