Huntington Earnings: Strong Organic Loan Growth; Guidance Raised for 2025

Key Morningstar Metrics for Huntington Bancshares

What We Thought of Huntington Bancshares’ Earnings

Huntington Bancshares HBAN posted great third-quarter results. Earnings per share of $0.41 were up 24% from the prior-year quarter. The bank saw broad-based organic growth and increased its 2025 guidance.

Why it matters: Although Huntington’s 10% expense growth is high, investments in core areas and balance sheet growth are paying off. The bank generated about 400 basis points of positive operating leverage, showing that its organic investments are seeing success.

• Huntington has been increasing its loans faster than its peers, with high-single-digit year-over-year loan growth in the past several quarters. We think the bank has done a fairly good job in widening its client base when the industry is not seeing a lot of loan demand.

The bottom line: We will maintain our $15.40 per share fair value estimate for no-moat-rated Huntington Bancshares and view the stock as fairly valued after incorporating this quarter’s results and updated guidance.

Key stats: Based on regulatory filings, Huntington’s exposure to non-depository financial institutions was less than 8% of its loan book. Management estimated that most of its NDFI exposure is to REITs, subscription lines, and insurers with good credit ratings. Excluding these asset classes, the bank’s NDFI exposure was 2% of its loans.

• We don’t think the bank has taken elevated credit risk in this area, and that it is generally conservative in its approach in the space.
• Huntington also has a strong capital position to weather credit losses. Its common equity Tier 1 ratio was 10.6% at the end of the third quarter, well above its 7%. The bank’s adjusted CET1 ratio of 9.2% is also in line with its target range of 9%-10%.