Avanza Fonder AB Buys Shares of 111,019 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 111,019 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,806,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HBAN. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 14,354 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 62,392 shares of the bank’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 5.0% in the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 17,783 shares of the bank’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 1.1% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 79,427 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 558,342 shares in the company, valued at $8,615,217.06. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total transaction of $505,362.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 496,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,765,662.92. This represents a 5.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,699 shares of company stock valued at $757,356 in the last ninety days. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ HBAN opened at $17.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 1-year low of $12.02 and a 1-year high of $18.44. The company has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.47.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 10.72%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 59.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.76.

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.