Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $25.63 Million Stock Holdings in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,743,357 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 112,146 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Huntington Bancshares worth $25,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HBAN. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 3.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,797,771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,901,000 after purchasing an additional 55,602 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,389,000. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,381,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 286.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 474,752 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,979,000 after acquiring an additional 351,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in Huntington Bancshares by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 245,358 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,607,000 after acquiring an additional 9,158 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of HBAN stock opened at $16.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.84 and a 200-day moving average of $15.00. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a one year low of $12.02 and a one year high of $18.44. The company has a market cap of $23.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.06.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on HBAN shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Sandler O’Neill reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 259,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,582,795.09. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total transaction of $505,362.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 496,076 shares in the company, 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 sold 43,699 shares of company stock worth $757,356 in the last quarter. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.