Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) ·
Huntington Bancshares Maintains 3.91% Yield Amid Credit and Valuation Scrutiny
Huntington Bancshares continues to distribute steady dividends and repurchase shares, even as credit quality metrics soften and analysts assess its long-term profitability.
Regional lender Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is offering a 3.91% forward dividend yield based on recent pricing, maintaining an annual payout of $0.62 per share. According to an AOL report, the bank has maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.155 per share since late 2021. For investors placing $40,000 into the equity, that translates to approximately $1,566 in annual passive income from roughly 2,525.25 shares.
Huntington's recent third-quarter 2026 earnings showed adjusted earnings per share of $0.38, which met Wall Street expectations and comfortably covered its quarterly dividend. Revenue for the period landed at $2.81 billion, slightly below analyst forecasts of $2.82 billion. In addition to regular payouts, the bank allocated capital to equity repurchases during the quarter, with AOL citing $100 million in stock buybacks and Yahoo Finance noting a $150 million repurchase completion.
However, credit trends remain an area of investor attention. The bank's annualized net charge-offs climbed from 0.25% to 0.31%. During the October earnings call, Steve Steinour, who served as chairman and chief executive officer, stated that the bank is making a strategic credit and capital allocation decision regarding commercial real estate. Yahoo Finance also noted broader pressures on the regional bank holding company, including sluggish commercial real estate and consumer loan activity, declining capital markets fees, and downward revisions to forward guidance.
The stock has lagged broader benchmarks, posting a 7.3% decline in 2026 while the S&P 500 Index gained 10.2% on a year-to-date basis. Even so, the bank recorded a 71.1% gain over the past three years. According to valuation figures from Simply Wall St, analysts hold an average forecast return on equity of 11.12% with a stable earnings estimate of $1.76 per share against a book value of $14.54 per share. Based on their Excess Returns model, the firm suggested the stock, which closed recently at $15.47, could be intrinsically undervalued.
Looking forward, analysts expect full-year diluted earnings per share to rise 3.4% to $1.54. The bank is also expanding its corporate offerings, recently rolling out an Intelligent Treasury platform in collaboration with Kyriba to support fee generation alongside cost synergies from its acquisitions of Cadence Bank and Veritex Holdings.