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

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 70,000,000 shares, a growth of 19.5% from the February 28th total of 58,600,000 shares. Currently, 4.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 21,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 9.0 %

Shares of Huntington Bancshares stock traded down $1.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $13.84. 17,284,079 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,932,461. The stock has a market cap of $20.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.16. Huntington Bancshares has a twelve month low of $12.05 and a twelve month high of $18.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Baird R W raised Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total value of $1,013,520.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 453,129 shares in the company, valued at $6,647,402.43. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total value of $552,925.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 335,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 sold 111,781 shares of company stock valued at $1,631,151 over the last 90 days. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Bancshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Carlson Capital Management lifted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 163,575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,661,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the bank’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 20,019 shares of the bank’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the period. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 13,766 shares of the bank’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

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.