Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) Stock Sees Heavy Call Option Buying

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 8,196 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 167% compared to the average volume of 3,068 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on HBAN. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $18.50 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, July 27th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 21st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 price target (down from $21.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, seven 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.79.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of HBAN opened at $15.19 on Friday. Huntington Bancshares has a 52-week low of $14.82 and a 52-week high of $19.45. The company has a market capitalization of $30.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.39. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. Huntington Bancshares has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-1.930 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.1550 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Huntington Bancshares’s payout ratio is 48.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In related news, insider Kendall Kowalski sold 27,971 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.20, for a total transaction of $481,101.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 70,025 shares in the company, valued at $1,204,430. The trade was a 28.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Huntington Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HBAN. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,134,426,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,412,989 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $649,115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,182,001 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 27.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 23,480,601 shares of the bank’s stock worth $367,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,026,894 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 30.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 19,502,547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $305,215,000 after purchasing an additional 4,578,566 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the second quarter worth $256,772,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Company Profile

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Its principal subsidiary, The Huntington National Bank, provides consumer, small-business and commercial banking services through branch offices, digital banking channels and automated teller machines.

The company offers deposit accounts, residential and commercial mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, personal lending, credit cards and other consumer financial products. Its business banking operations provide lending, treasury management, payment processing and capital markets services, while its wealth management and insurance businesses serve individuals, families and institutions.

Founded in 1866, Huntington has developed a banking franchise across the Midwest, with a presence in states including Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois and Wisconsin.