Is Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (HBAN) A Good Stock To Buy?

The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. We have processed the filings of the more than 700 world-class investment firms that we track and now have access to the collective wisdom contained in these filings, which are based on their September 30 holdings, data that is available nowhere else. Should you consider Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) for your portfolio? We’ll look to this invaluable collective wisdom for the answer.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) investors should be aware of a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM), Vantiv Inc (NYSE:VNTV), and Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC) to gather more data points.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are plenty of indicators market participants use to appraise their holdings. A pair of the most under-the-radar indicators are hedge fund and insider trading activity. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can beat the market by a significant margin (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a peek at the fresh action regarding Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN).

Hedge fund activity in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 20 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -17% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management has the biggest position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN), worth close to $51 million, amounting to 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Winton Capital Management, managed by David Harding, which holds a $29.6 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other members of the smart money that hold long positions encompass Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Matthew Lindenbaum’s Basswood Capital and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.

Judging by the fact that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) has experienced a decline in interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there is a sect of hedge funds that elected to cut their entire stakes in the third quarter. Intriguingly, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management dropped the largest stake of the 700 funds followed by Insider Monkey, worth an estimated $25 million in stock, and Peter Muller’s PDT Partners was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $6.4 million worth of shares. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN). These stocks are Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM), Vantiv Inc (NYSE:VNTV), Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC), and Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to HBAN’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 26 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $2.55 billion. That figure was $113 million in HBAN’s case. Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard NEM might be a better candidate to consider a long position.