Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Receives Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Stephens in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $18.50 price objective on the bank's stock. Stephens' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.19% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $16.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.06.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HBAN traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.10. 22,133,511 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,977,895. Huntington Bancshares has a 52 week low of $12.05 and a 52 week high of $18.44. The firm has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company's 50 day moving average price is $17.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (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 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total value of $505,362.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 496,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,765,662.92. This trade represents a 5.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total transaction of $99,600.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 558,342 shares in the company, valued at $8,615,217.06. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,699 shares of company stock valued at $757,356 over the last three months. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 10.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,474,115 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,179,319,000 after acquiring an additional 7,439,909 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 62,708,399 shares of the bank's stock valued at $921,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522,767 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 36,880,662 shares of the bank's stock worth $540,422,000 after buying an additional 473,893 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,719,168 shares of the bank's stock worth $348,672,000 after buying an additional 3,410,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 13.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,318,486 shares of the bank's stock valued at $298,682,000 after buying an additional 2,363,988 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is owned by 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.