Huntington Bancshares Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 97,130 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 2,098% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,420 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 12,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $230,976.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 239,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,310,514. This represents a 5.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 2,481 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.80, for a total value of $44,161.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 71,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,273,874.80. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 87,863 shares of company stock worth $1,396,634 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HBAN. Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Huntington Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,930,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.4% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 250,775 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,331,000 after acquiring an additional 8,360 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $268,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 354,431 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $3,487,000. 80.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HBAN shares. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (down from $21.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.64.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:HBAN opened at $17.59 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.96. Huntington Bancshares has a 12 month low of $11.91 and a 12 month high of $18.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 1st. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $580.00 million during the quarter. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.14% and a net margin of 18.06%. Research analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be given a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.36%.

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.