Cerity Partners LLC Has $8.83 Million Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 45.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 587,996 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 499,272 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $8,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 516.3% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,231 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,869 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 326,456 shares in the company, valued at $4,469,182.64. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Helga Houston sold 42,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 592,119 shares in the company, valued at $8,715,991.68. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 214,375 shares of company stock worth $3,049,277. 0.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HBAN shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Argus set a $17.00 price target on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.48.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

HBAN stock opened at $17.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52-week low of $11.92 and a 52-week high of $18.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.70.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business earned $0.27 EPS. Research analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares declared that its Board of Directors 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 reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares 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.