Short Interest in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Decreases By 9.4%

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 30,500,000 shares, a decline of 9.4% from the November 15th total of 33,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HBAN. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.41.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN remained flat at $17.17 during trading on Friday. 12,838,137 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,809,455. The stock has a market cap of $24.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.06. Huntington Bancshares has a 1 year low of $12.02 and a 1 year high of $18.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.85.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 59.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total value of $152,393.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 259,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,582,795.09. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total transaction of $505,362.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 496,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,765,662.92. This represents a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,699 shares of company stock valued at $757,356. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 133,649 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after buying an additional 28,174 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 354.9% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 54,287 shares of the bank’s stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 40.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,822 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 237.7% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 17,360 shares of the bank’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 12,220 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.