145,887 Shares in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Bought by Empire Life Investments Inc.

Empire Life Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 145,887 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,374,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 200.7% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 126.8% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,830 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $73,000. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HBAN has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $16.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $18.50 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Sandler O’Neill restated a “buy” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.06.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $16.73 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $12.05 and a 52 week high of $18.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 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.