Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Makes New Investment in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 274,752 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $4,039,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 244,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,411,000 after purchasing an additional 27,519 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 5.3% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 75,933 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,059,000 after buying an additional 3,855 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 221.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 756,408 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,552,000 after buying an additional 521,372 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 224.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 158,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,216,000 after buying an additional 109,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 586,246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,049,000 after acquiring an additional 20,540 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $18.01 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.05 and its 200 day moving average is $14.61. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a one year low of $11.10 and a one year high of $18.44. The firm has a market cap of $26.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HBAN shares. StockNews.com upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $16.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total transaction of $505,362.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 496,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,765,662.92. This represents a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total transaction of $99,600.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 558,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,615,217.06. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,699 shares of company stock worth $757,356. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

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.