Evercore ISI Starts Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) at Outperform

Evercore ISI analyst John Pancari initiates coverage on Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN) with a Outperform rating and a price target of $21.00.

The analyst comments "We are resuming coverage of HBAN with an Outperform rating and $21 TP post the close of the Cadence acquisition. HBAN remains one of the most front-footed regionals within our coverage – now with added scale in high-growth Texas & Southeast markets via the VBTX and CADE deals. HBAN has effectively capitalized not just on attractive banking dynamics in these regions via organic efforts, but via timely bank acquisitions given the amenable regulatory backdrop. In our view, HBAN’s bottom line & return profile are poised to benefit from ongoing business expansion, above peer balance sheet growth, and top line acceleration. And while we acknowledge HBAN’s elevated investment spend, we are encouraged by management’s commitment to driving positive operating leverage in 2026. HBAN trades at a 1+ turn discount at ~9.0x our 2027E EPS vs 10.2x at peers, a discount we attribute to a CADE TBV earnback that is likely greater than the ~3yrs originally announced (higher equity consideration and lower PAA, partially offset by lower loan rate marks). Despite this, we favor the bank’s fundamental & valuation set-up - particularly HBAN’s 1.8x P/TBV despite a highly attainable 18-19% medium-term ROTCE target. We resume at Outperform with a $21 TP, which assumes ~10.7x our 2027 EPS and 1.9x 2027E TBV."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Huntington Bancshares click here. For more ratings news on Huntington Bancshares click here.

Shares of Huntington Bancshares closed at $17.48 yesterday.

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