UPDATE: ISI Group Initiates Coverage on Huntington Bancshares with Neutral Rating, $9 PT on Limited Expenses, Credit Leverage

In a report published Tuesday, ISI Group analyst Keith Murray initiated coverage on Huntington Bancshares HBAN with a Neutral rating and $9.00 price target. In the report, ISI Group noted, “We are initiating coverage of Huntington with a Neutral rating and 12-month price target of $9. Huntington shares don't look expensive on a PE basis (at a little less than 11x our 2015E EPS) but they also don't look overly cheap in our opinion (the stock falls right on or ROTE/PTVB regression line), so they are stuck in the middle. On the positive side, we think HBAN will likely post healthy 3Q loan growth given growth in auto loans and management's choice to put these on the balance sheet as opposed to securitizing them. That said, we think expenses will be elevated in the near term and likely limit much EPS improvement. We see limited upside in HBAN over the next 12 months.” Huntington Bancshares closed on Monday at $8.26.