Morgan Stanley Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $16.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $14.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $14.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $14.00 to $15.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $15.17.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $13.53 on Monday. Huntington Bancshares has a 12-month low of $9.13 and a 12-month high of $14.07. The stock has a market cap of $19.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.29 and a 200-day moving average of $12.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 15.86%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.58%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 55.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Helga Houston sold 28,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total value of $377,979.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 568,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,483,483.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ann B. Crane sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total value of $785,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 192,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,603,024.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Helga Houston sold 28,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total value of $377,979.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 568,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,483,483.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 102,241 shares of company stock worth $1,360,359. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HBAN. Boston Partners raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 46,642,476 shares of the bank’s stock worth $593,408,000 after purchasing an additional 17,365,446 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $206,703,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 715.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,251,631 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,081,000 after acquiring an additional 3,729,974 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,925,067 shares of the bank’s stock worth $186,421,000 after acquiring an additional 3,438,552 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 641.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,775,356 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,301,000 after acquiring an additional 2,401,067 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Company Profile

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.