Short Interest in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Declines By 9.4%

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 30,500,000 shares, a decrease of 9.4% from the November 15th total of 33,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 13,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Huntington Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:HBAN remained flat at $17.17 during midday trading on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 12,838,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,809,455. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Huntington Bancshares has a twelve month low of $12.02 and a twelve month high of $18.44.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 14.19%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Huntington Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HBAN shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $17.50 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $20.00 price target (up from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 28,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.67, for a total value of $505,362.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 496,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,765,662.92. This trade represents a 5.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total value of $152,393.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 259,943 shares in the company, valued at $4,582,795.09. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 43,699 shares of company stock worth $757,356. 0.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 10.3% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 2.5% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $540,422,000 after purchasing an additional 473,893 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,719,168 shares of the bank's stock worth $348,672,000 after purchasing an additional 3,410,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,318,486 shares of the bank's stock worth $298,682,000 after buying an additional 2,363,988 shares during the period. 80.72% of the stock is currently 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.