Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 29,390,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the September 30th total of 27,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total transaction of $99,600.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 558,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,615,217.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HBAN. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 200.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 695.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 2,291 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ HBAN opened at $15.74 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.04. Huntington Bancshares has a 12 month low of $9.49 and a 12 month high of $16.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HBAN shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Argus lifted their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Huntington Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.09.

About Huntington Bancshares

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.