Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Short Interest Update

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 73,928,884 shares, a decrease of 34.7% from the January 29th total of 113,223,982 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 39,349,176 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 3.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 3.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 39,349,176 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of Huntington Bancshares stock traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $16.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 39,293,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,519,284. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Huntington Bancshares has a 1-year low of $11.91 and a 1-year high of $19.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 11.98%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.60.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, Director Gary Torgow purchased 14,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.81 per share, with a total value of $252,902.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 943,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,800,903.21. This trade represents a 1.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 2,481 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total transaction of $44,161.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 71,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,273,874.80. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 50,145 shares of company stock worth $929,885 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. South Plains Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 1,536 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the period. Finally, Centennial Bank AR acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

About Huntington Bancshares

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN) is a bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, Huntington National Bank. The company’s operations are centered on retail and commercial banking, and it serves individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, and institutional customers.

Huntington’s product offerings include traditional deposit and lending products, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, auto financing, and business banking solutions.