Driehaus Capital Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 26,279 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 64,926,419 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,056,353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,218,020 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 52,599,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $855,802,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310,502 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $528,434,000 after acquiring an additional 8,759,871 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,825,092 shares of the bank’s stock worth $355,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,606 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $302,826,000. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

HBAN opened at $15.22 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.95. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52 week low of $11.92 and a 52 week high of $18.45. The firm has a market cap of $22.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 17th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Helga Houston sold 42,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.72, for a total transaction of $623,318.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 592,119 shares in the company, valued at $8,715,991.68. This represents a 6.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 3,434 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.50, for a total value of $49,793.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 66,847 shares in the company, valued at $969,281.50. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 312,456 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,105 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $17.50 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.45.

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.