Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sandler O’Neill reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.24.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Down 0.2 %

Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $17.60 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $25.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.06. Huntington Bancshares has a 12 month low of $11.57 and a 12 month high of $18.44.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 14.19%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Huntington Bancshares news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total value of $152,393.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 259,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,582,795.09. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total value of $505,362.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 496,076 shares in the company, valued at $8,765,662.92. The trade was a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,699 shares of company stock worth $757,356 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 200.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 695.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 2,291 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.