Short Interest in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Grows By 50.7%

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 42,510,000 shares, a growth of 50.7% from the December 15th total of 28,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 14,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total value of $99,600.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 558,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,615,217.06. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 496,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,765,662.92. This trade represents a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,699 shares of company stock worth $757,356 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Dedication LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Huntington Bancshares stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.01. The company had a trading volume of 31,298,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,691,037. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.43. Huntington Bancshares has a 1 year low of $12.02 and a 1 year high of $18.44. 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 company has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. 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 company posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on HBAN. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.76.

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.