Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $17.97 and last traded at $17.97, with a volume of 2482753 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HBAN shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Sandler O’Neill reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.26.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.72 and its 200-day moving average is $14.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.03.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 14.19%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of Huntington Bancshares 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 259,943 shares in the company, valued at $4,582,795.09. This trade represents a 3.22 % 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 Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total transaction of $505,362.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 496,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 43,699 shares of company stock worth $757,356. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Dedication LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 695.5% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 2,291 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 2,003 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Company 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.