Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Short Interest Update

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 29,390,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the September 30th total of 27,870,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 13,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total transaction of $99,600.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 558,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,615,217.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HBAN. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 251,152.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 173,364 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 173,295 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,617,730 shares of the bank's stock worth $22,577,000 after acquiring an additional 564,729 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $744,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 531.0% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,150,690 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,166,000 after acquiring an additional 968,331 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 221.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 756,408 shares of the bank's stock worth $10,552,000 after purchasing an additional 521,372 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HBAN traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $15.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,255,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,009,789. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.04. Huntington Bancshares has a 12-month low of $9.49 and a 12-month high of $16.03.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 14.19%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 59.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.09.

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.