Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. Sells 46,000 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. lessened its stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 21.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 167,000 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 46,000 shares during the period. Huntington Bancshares makes up approximately 2.3% of Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $2,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HBAN. Altrius Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter worth $4,894,000. FineMark National Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 59.2% in the second quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 175,144 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,935,000 after acquiring an additional 65,144 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 176,980,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,056,459,000 after acquiring an additional 680,601 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $3,746,000. Finally, Midwest Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 1,510,977 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,095,000 after purchasing an additional 170,240 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on HBAN. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Evercore began coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $19.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.68.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 1.7%

HBAN stock opened at $15.21 on Friday. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a twelve month low of $11.91 and a twelve month high of $19.45. 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 stock has a market cap of $30.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $17.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.04.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.03). Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 17.71%.The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.60%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 5,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.14, for a total value of $111,586.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 327,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,271,718.64. This represents a 1.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 17,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total value of $330,423.15. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 42,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,594.14. This represents a 29.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 27,700 shares of company stock valued at $540,401 and sold 33,285 shares valued at $627,009. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Huntington Bancshares 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.