Huntington Bancshares Incorporated HBAN continues to prioritize shareholder returns through dividends and share repurchases. At the Barclays 24th Annual Global Financial Services Conference, management said that the company expects to complete approximately $550 million of share repurchases in 2026. It has also increased its planned 2027 buyback by $200 million to $1.3-$1.4 billion.
The higher capital return plan comes as HBAN recalibrates its growth outlook. The company now expects its organic loan-growth run rate to be around 6%, compared with the previous 8%-9% range, while 2027 loan growth is projected to be 6%-8%. The lower loan-growth outlook is expected to free up nearly $200 million of capital, which management plans to return to shareholders through higher share repurchases.
Huntington also has substantial authorization to support its repurchase plans. In April 2026, the company's board approved a $3 billion common-share repurchase authorization. As of June 30, 2026, approximately $2.95 billion remained available under the authorization.
Beyond share repurchases, HBAN continues to return capital through its dividend. The company increased its dividend by 3.3% in October 2021, while its current payout ratio is nearly 41%. Its dividend yield also stands at 3.9%. Management has reiterated that capital allocation will focus on high-return organic growth, dividends and share repurchases from excess capital.
Dividend Yield
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Huntington is also investing in strategic acquisitions and fee-based businesses to strengthen its earnings base. The company achieved its $70 million Veritex cost-synergy target in the second quarter, while Cadence is tracking toward a $365 million annualized run rate by the fourth quarter. The integrations are also generating stronger-than-expected revenue synergies, with the cumulative outlook through 2028 raised to approximately $600 million from $500 million. Meanwhile, continued growth in capital markets, wealth management and commercial payments is expected to further diversify revenue. These initiatives are expected to support earnings growth while creating greater capacity for share repurchases.
Huntington maintains a decent liquidity position. As of June 30, 2026, liquidity comprising cash, due from banks and interest-bearing deposits totaled approximately $16 billion. At the same time, the company had $18.7 billion of long-term debt and $3.1 billion of short-term borrowings, providing a diversified funding profile.
Looking ahead, the company’s higher share repurchase plan reflects its decision to return excess capital while maintaining investments in growth. Acquisition synergies and the expansion of fee-based businesses are expected to support earnings and capital generation, providing a foundation for continued shareholder returns.
How Does HBAN Compare on Capital Returns?
Similar to Huntington, other banks, such as U.S. Bancorp USB and Fifth Third Bancorp FITB, continue to use dividends and share repurchases to return excess capital to shareholders.
U.S. Bancorp raised its quarterly common stock dividend by 3.8% to 54 cents per share and plans to increase share repurchases. As of June 30, 2026, nearly $3.9 billion remained under its $5 billion share repurchase authorization. Its liquidity position also remains solid, with cash and due from banks totaling $66.5 billion as of June 30, 2026, while short-term borrowings and long-term debt stood at $37.3 billion and $58.7 billion, respectively. This provides U.S. Bancorp with financial flexibility to balance capital returns with business investments.
Moreover, Fifth Third increased its quarterly common stock dividend by 5% to 42 cents per share. Share repurchases remain paused during the Comerica integration, although the company has $93.1 million remaining under its $100 million repurchase authorization approved in June 2025. Management expects buybacks to resume in the fourth quarter. As of June 30, 2026, Fifth Third had liquidity of $23.7 billion, while total debt stood at $22.3 billion, including $4.6 billion of short-term borrowings. This liquidity position provides additional flexibility as the company balances integration-related needs, organic growth and shareholder distributions.
HBAN’s Price Performance & Zacks Rank
Shares of the company have gained 3.9% in the past six months compared with the industry’s growth of 6.3%.
Price Performance
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Huntington’s currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).