Huntington CIO Sells $481K Above Current Price
Huntington Bancshares CIO Kendall Kowalski sold 27,971 shares for $481,102 on August 3 in two open-market transactions, not under a pre-committed plan, at $17.20, now above the current price of $16.92
Huntington CIO Sells $481K Above Current Price
NEW YORK, August 31 —
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (HBAN) is priced at a 20% discount to analyst consensus, cheap on its face, yet the executive best positioned to judge whether that discount is deserved sold nearly 28,000 shares at $17.20 on August 3, now above where the stock trades. Analyst consensus sits at $20.30. Kowalski didn't wait.
- Q2 EPS $0.39 vs consensus; three of four quarters beat, including a 5.7% beat the prior quarter.
- CIO Kendall Kowalski sold 27,971 shares for $481,102 on August 3, open-market and not plan-driven, with zero insider purchases over 90 days.
- At $16.92, HBAN trades at 9.0x forward earnings, $3.38 below analyst consensus.
The Beat Record and Its Limits
The holding company for Huntington National Bank serves retail customers through a distinctive overdraft-protection suite (24-Hour Grace, the $50 Safety Zone, Standby Cash) while running commercial lines that include equipment financing, asset-based lending, and dealer finance loans. Trailing-twelve-month revenue reached $9.18 billion, up 47.6% year-over-year. Three of the past four EPS reports cleared consensus, the most recent by 0.8%. In regional banking, earnings beats typically lag credit cycle turns by several quarters; rising non-performing loans, flagged by independent analysis roughly five weeks ago, tend to show up in provisioning before they appear in EPS misses.
When the Insider Votes Otherwise
Kowalski's August 3 transactions, two open-market sales totaling 27,971 shares, stand apart because they were not plan-driven. Schedule 10b5-1 disposals signal pre-committed selling; this was a discretionary exit, days after the Q2 8-K that analysts characterized as in-line. The 90-day insider window shows net selling of $481,102 against zero purchases, a one-sided ledger that pairs uncomfortably with the rising non-performing loan concerns flagged weeks earlier. Short interest at 2.5% of float shows most short sellers have not pressed this thesis hard; the CIO, with his name on the sale filings, operated from a different information set.
| Ticker | Mkt cap | Fwd P/E | 52-wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| HBAN | $34.2B | 9.0x | -4.3% |
| FITB | $49.5B | 11.0x | +19.7% |
| KEY | $23.4B | 10.3x | +15.6% |
| RF | $25.8B | 10.7x | +12.8% |
| PNC | $96.6B | 11.3x | +17.9% |
| ZION | $9.9B | 10.0x | +18.3% |
The Number That Changes the Thesis
The neutral case hinges on Q3 non-performing loan disclosures, the specific checkpoint the CIO's exit moved to center stage. Huntington carries $22.61 billion in total debt against $16.61 billion in cash and $3.06 billion in trailing operating cash flow, a buffer that prevents a credit stress scenario from becoming an immediate capital event. At 9.0x forward earnings, the market prices in stable credit quality; if provisioning rises materially next quarter, that multiple and the $3.38 gap to the $20.30 consensus target both deflate. Run the free Huntington Bancshares Incorporated deep-dive →, or cross-check the earnings multiple with the P/E calculator, as Q3 data arrives.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Huntington Bancshares insiders sell stock?
CIO Kendall Kowalski sold 27,971 shares for $481,102 on August 3 in two open-market transactions, not under a pre-committed Schedule 10b5-1 plan. Over the 90-day insider window, net selling totaled $481,102 against zero purchases, a one-sided ledger.
What is the Huntington Bancshares analyst price target?
Analyst consensus sits at $20.30, compared to a current price of $16.92. That represents a roughly 20% discount and a gap of $3.38 per share between market price and consensus.
How did Huntington Q2 earnings compare to estimates?
Q2 EPS came in at $0.39 versus the $0.387 consensus estimate, a beat of 0.8%. Three of the past four quarters cleared consensus, including a 5.7% beat the prior quarter.
What is Huntington Bancshares forward P/E ratio?
HBAN trades at 9.0x forward earnings at the current price of $16.92. The market is pricing in stable credit quality, and material increases in provisioning for non-performing loans next quarter could compress that multiple.
What is Huntington Bancshares short interest?
Short interest stands at 2.5% of float, suggesting most short sellers have not pressed the bearish thesis hard. The CIO's discretionary open-market exit, by contrast, came from someone operating from a different information set.
Huntington Bancshares' Chief Information Officer sold nearly $481,000 of stock at $17.20 on August 3 — a price the regional bank's shares no longer reach — just days after a Q2 report analysts called in-line. Analyst consensus meanwhile points to $20.30, implying meaningful upside the insider chose not to wait for.