Financial Counselors Inc. Trims Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,401,685 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 29,182 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $22,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $2,381,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $422,000. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,460,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 5.6% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 844,466 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,414,000 after buying an additional 44,662 shares during the period. Finally, Petiole USA ltd bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter worth approximately $3,454,000. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on HBAN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (up previously from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.50 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.18.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total value of $1,013,520.96. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 453,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,647,402.43. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total value of $552,925.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,825,036.44. The trade was a 10.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ HBAN opened at $15.32 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.14. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 1 year low of $12.05 and a 1 year high of $18.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $22.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a PEG ratio of 1.33 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.41%.

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.