D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Lowers Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 88.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 113,600 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 885,714 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $1,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 220.9% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,666,949 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524,077 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 850,139 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,832,000 after acquiring an additional 129,106 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $422,000. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $1,460,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $189,000. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total value of $1,013,520.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 453,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,647,402.43. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brantley J. Standridge sold 70,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.69, for a total transaction of $964,008.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 326,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,469,182.64. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 312,456 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,105 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on HBAN shares. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Argus set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.83.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of HBAN opened at $15.32 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $22.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.97. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12-month low of $11.92 and a 12-month high of $18.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.33%.

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.