Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Coverage Initiated at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 17.45% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $18.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Huntington Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.42.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of HBAN opened at $17.88 on Tuesday. Huntington Bancshares has a twelve month low of $11.91 and a twelve month high of $18.91. The stock has a market cap of $28.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $17.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.89.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.03). The firm 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 12,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $230,976.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 239,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,310,514. This represents a 5.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Helga Houston sold 64,587 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.38, for a total transaction of $993,348.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 534,640 shares in the company, valued at $8,222,763.20. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,863 shares of company stock worth $1,581,634. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,266,059 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,091,000 after buying an additional 299,049 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 215,925 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,746,000 after acquiring an additional 47,059 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 315,425 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,473,000 after purchasing an additional 32,051 shares during the period. Mcdonald Partners LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 121,214 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 14,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,505,092 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,113,000 after purchasing an additional 123,510 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Company Profile

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.