Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) saw a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,930,000 shares, a drop of 15.0% from the August 15th total of 31,680,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 17,790,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HBAN traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $14.64. 11,588,206 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,596,238. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.05. Huntington Bancshares has a 52-week low of $9.25 and a 52-week high of $15.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $14.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.69.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 11.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.86%.

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In related news, VP Nancy E. Maloney sold 57,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total transaction of $871,685.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 69,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,054,364.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 33,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.13, for a total transaction of $499,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 265,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,021,690.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Nancy E. Maloney sold 57,537 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total transaction of $871,685.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 69,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,054,364.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,622 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,904. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 20.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 56,175,987 shares of the bank’s stock worth $783,215,000 after acquiring an additional 9,533,511 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 0.4% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,954,498 shares of the bank’s stock worth $236,640,000 after acquiring an additional 65,355 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $206,703,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 3.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,810,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $208,346,000 after acquiring an additional 561,565 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,534,897 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,019 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HBAN shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $11.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Huntington Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.59.

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.