Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated $HBAN

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 639,696 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $9,762,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the second quarter worth $3,134,426,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $256,772,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $229,246,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $213,096,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 565.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,926,745 shares of the bank’s stock worth $136,222,000 after acquiring an additional 7,584,294 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 0.3%

Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $15.88 on Thursday. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $14.82 and a 12 month high of $19.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $32.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.62.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.93% and a net margin of 16.28%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.1550 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HBAN shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Bank of America cut Huntington Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $20.00 to $18.50 in a research note on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group set a $18.00 target price on Huntington Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Huntington Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Huntington Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.89.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, Director James D. Rollins III acquired 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.12 per share, for a total transaction of $253,680.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 15,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,860. This represents a 933.33% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Donnell R. White sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.87, for a total value of $47,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 23,697 shares in the company, valued at $376,071.39. This represents a 11.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Company Profile

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Its principal subsidiary, The Huntington National Bank, provides consumer and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, and institutions. The company traces its roots to 1866, when P.W. Huntington & Company opened in Columbus. Huntington’s offerings include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, business lending, treasury management, wealth management, and investment services.