Argent Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Argent Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,696 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 3,767 shares during the period. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 56,175,987 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $783,215,000 after buying an additional 9,533,511 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $206,703,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,130,774 shares of the bank’s stock worth $192,473,000 after purchasing an additional 765,070 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 3.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 7,403,303 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,276,000 after purchasing an additional 225,911 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,534,897 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,019 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ HBAN traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $14.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,088,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,801,463. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $21.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.56. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $9.25 and a fifty-two week high of $15.24.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 14.77%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Argus increased their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 9,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.06, for a total value of $136,293.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,111 shares in the company, valued at $167,331.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 9,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.06, for a total value of $136,293.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,111 shares in the company, valued at $167,331.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 33,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.13, for a total value of $499,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 265,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,021,690.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 116,622 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,904. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.