KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires New Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 489,900 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $8,035,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 8.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,266 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,946 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 127,518 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after buying an additional 11,452 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1,093,900.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 21,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 21,878 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 5.9% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 172,716 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,542,000 after acquiring an additional 9,692 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 21.7% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 20,019 shares of the bank’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 3,576 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In related news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total value of $552,925.38. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $1,013,520.96. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 453,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,647,402.43. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HBAN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (up previously from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.18.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $15.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $22.42 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.14. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 1-year low of $12.05 and a 1-year high of $18.45.

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

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 50.41%.

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.