Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,243 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,985 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of HBAN. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 200.7% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 19.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.76.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total transaction of $152,393.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 259,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,582,795.09. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total transaction of $505,362.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 496,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,765,662.92. This trade represents a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,699 shares of company stock valued at $757,356 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $16.59 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.38. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52 week low of $12.02 and a 52 week high of $18.44. 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 company has a market cap of $24.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.07.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. Research analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.62%.

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.