Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 33,650,000 shares, an increase of 13.5% from the October 31st total of 29,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total value of $505,362.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 496,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,765,662.92. This represents a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total value 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 approximately $4,582,795.09. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,699 shares of company stock worth $757,356 in the last quarter. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HBAN. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 200.7% in the third 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 purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 695.5% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HBAN. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $16.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.76.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ HBAN traded down $0.26 on Tuesday, reaching $17.52. The company had a trading volume of 2,832,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,882,021. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Huntington Bancshares has a 12 month low of $11.57 and a 12 month high of $18.44.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 14.19%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.62%.

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.