Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.11 Million Investment in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 87,600 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HBAN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 172,069,244 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,789,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209,264 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,744,281 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $468,725,000 after purchasing an additional 245,025 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 29,277,030 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $304,439,000 after purchasing an additional 7,271,405 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,925,067 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $186,421,000 after purchasing an additional 3,438,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,273,987 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $148,449,000 after purchasing an additional 744,443 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ HBAN opened at $13.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $19.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a one year low of $9.13 and a one year high of $14.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.21.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 15.86%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HBAN shares. UBS Group raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $16.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $15.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ann B. Crane sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total transaction of $785,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 192,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,603,024.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Huntington Bancshares news, Director Ann B. Crane sold 58,000 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total transaction of $785,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 192,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,603,024.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Julie C. Tutkovics sold 15,541 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total transaction of $197,059.88. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 303,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,847,809.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 102,241 shares of company stock worth $1,360,359. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Huntington Bancshares 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.