Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HBAN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sandler O’Neill restated a “buy” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.26.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $15.72 and its 200 day moving average is $14.47.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during 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 previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.62%.

Insider Activity

In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total value of $99,600.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 558,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,615,217.06. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total transaction of $505,362.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,699 shares of company stock valued at $757,356 in the last ninety days. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WealthShield Partners LLC grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 12,237 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 19.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.2% during the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,647 shares of the bank’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the period. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 2.5% during the second quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. now owns 30,955 shares of the bank’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 4.1% in the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 20,235 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

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.