Smith Group Asset Management LLC Makes New $862,000 Investment in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 53,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $862,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 200.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter worth $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 19.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $17.23 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.89. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a one year low of $12.05 and a one year high of $18.44. The firm has a market cap of $25.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.07.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 50.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HBAN. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $18.50 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $17.50 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $16.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total value of $505,362.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 496,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,765,662.92. This represents a 5.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 259,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,582,795.09. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.