Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Receives Equal Weight Rating from Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $19.00 price target on the bank’s stock, down from their prior price target of $21.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on HBAN. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Stephens assumed coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, June 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.14.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 0.2%

HBAN stock opened at $17.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Huntington Bancshares has a 52 week low of $14.89 and a 52 week high of $19.45.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. Huntington Bancshares has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.930 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 47.69%.

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 10,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $190,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 267,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,821,462. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director James D. Rollins III sold 223,522 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.35, for a total transaction of $3,878,106.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 612,155 shares in the company, valued at $10,620,889.25. This trade represents a 26.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders acquired 33,500 shares of company stock worth $617,542 over the last quarter. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HBAN. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 4,265.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 70,083,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,215,955,000 after buying an additional 68,478,435 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $432,584,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,319,041 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,319,385,000 after acquiring an additional 14,338,222 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 27.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 23,480,601 shares of the bank’s stock worth $367,388,000 after acquiring an additional 5,026,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 19,502,547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $305,215,000 after acquiring an additional 4,578,566 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Huntington Bancshares News

Here are the key news stories impacting Huntington Bancshares this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HBAN reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $0.39, matching Wall Street estimates, while revenue came in slightly ahead of expectations. Management also raised FY 2026 EPS guidance to $1.90-$1.93, above consensus, signaling confidence in continued earnings growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The bank highlighted growth in net interest income, fee income, loans, and deposits, which supports the view that core business trends remain healthy. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Huntington also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.155 per share, which may appeal to income-focused investors and reinforces capital return plans.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive, with consensus calling the stock a “Moderate Buy,” but several firms kept only an “equal weight” view.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and Stephens both lowered their price targets to $19, while Robert W. Baird raised its target to $21 and kept an outperform rating, leaving the analyst message mixed overall.
• Negative Sentiment: Rising funding costs pressured Q2 margins, and higher expenses and provisions remain a headwind for profitability. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The recent pullback in analyst price targets may be limiting upside expectations, even after the earnings report.

About Huntington Bancshares

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.