Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Short Interest Up 12.2% in October

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 33,830,000 shares, an increase of 12.2% from the October 15th total of 30,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. Wolfe Research raised Huntington Bancshares from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Helga Houston sold 4,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total value of $44,978.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 595,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,229,076.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Huntington Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Aspire Private Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,631,635,000. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 81.6% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 313.4% in the 1st quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares during the period. 78.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Huntington Bancshares stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.08. 9,393,677 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,912,275. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $10.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.70. The company has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 1.11. Huntington Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $9.13 and a fifty-two week high of $15.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 20th. The bank reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.71% and a net margin of 22.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 18th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 15th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.60%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.06%.

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 operates through four segments: Consumer and Business Banking; Commercial Banking; Vehicle Finance; and Regional Banking and The Huntington Private Client Group (RBHPCG).