Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Buys Shares of 8,056 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,056 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBAN. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 17,533.3% in the fourth quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 1,587 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,578 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its position in shares of 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. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HBAN has been the topic of several research reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (up from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $18.50 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntington Bancshares news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now owns 453,129 shares in the company, valued at $6,647,402.43. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total transaction of $552,925.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of HBAN stock opened at $15.02 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.11. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52 week low of $12.05 and a 52 week high of $18.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $21.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.41%.

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.