With new leadership of CEO Stephen Steinour, Huntington (HBAN, Overweight) has grown above expectations with rebranding and additional new customers. The second quarter earnings increased by 9%, driven by gains in commercial and auto lending, beating analyst estimates by $23.8 million. Impact of fall in revenue in first quarter is not continued in second quarter with revenue more than improved to $710 million, a 5% growth from $677 million year over year.
We strongly believe that Huntington Bancshares produced best regional bank report in this earnings season. 8.4% TCE ratio is enough to second our opinion of bank’s growth. We maintain Buy rating and retain $11 price target. Currently bank is trading at $9.57 which is 13 times our 2014 EPS estimate.