Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Short Interest Up 19.5% in March

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 70,000,000 shares, an increase of 19.5% from the February 28th total of 58,600,000 shares. Approximately 4.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 21,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $1,013,520.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 453,129 shares in the company, valued at $6,647,402.43. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the company’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 owns 335,538 shares in the company, valued at $4,825,036.44. This represents a 10.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,781 shares of company stock worth $1,631,151 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 126.8% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,830 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:HBAN traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.21. 16,506,239 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,926,541. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $15.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07. Huntington Bancshares has a 12-month low of $12.05 and a 12-month high of $18.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective (up from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.50 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.18.

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.