Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Short Interest Update

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 21,170,000 shares, a decrease of 6.2% from the May 15th total of 22,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 15,170,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $13.50 to $11.50 in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned 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 price target of $15.13.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $12.46 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.11. Huntington Bancshares has a 52 week low of $9.25 and a 52 week high of $14.30. The company has a market capitalization of $18.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 15.86%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Helga Houston sold 7,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.64, for a total transaction of $99,271.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 648,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,851,050.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Helga Houston sold 7,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.64, for a total transaction of $99,271.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 648,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,851,050.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.60, for a total value of $680,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 385,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,241,562.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 157,829 shares of company stock valued at $2,148,623. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 140.9% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.