Allstate Corp Purchases Shares of 42,974 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Allstate Corp acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 42,974 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $699,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 8.3% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 34,985 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 2,693 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 22,924 shares of the bank’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 5,058 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 46,134 shares of the bank’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 12,660 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 253,638 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,728,000 after buying an additional 7,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 11.4% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 129,285 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,900,000 after buying an additional 13,193 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $15.01 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.16. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 52 week low of $12.05 and a 52 week high of $18.45. The company has a market capitalization of $21.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 50.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HBAN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (up from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $18.50 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Baird R W raised Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $1,013,520.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 453,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,647,402.43. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total transaction of $552,925.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,825,036.44. This trade represents a 10.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,781 shares of company stock worth $1,631,151 in the last ninety days. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Huntington Bancshares 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.