Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 6,056 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 68% compared to the average volume of 3,612 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 6,416 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.65, for a total value of $100,410.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 252,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,948,573.25. This trade represents a 2.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Helga Houston sold 64,587 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.38, for a total value of $993,348.06. Following the transaction, the insider owned 534,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,222,763.20. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 112,103 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,558 over the last ninety days. 0.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huntington Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HBAN. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Huntington Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. South Plains Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 116.3% during the third quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 1,536 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 374.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ HBAN traded up $0.35 on Wednesday, reaching $16.91. 5,832,599 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,160,566. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.47. Huntington Bancshares has a 12 month low of $11.91 and a 12 month high of $18.03. The company has a market cap of $24.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 18th. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on HBAN. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (down from $21.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.69.

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.