Huntington Bancshares said it would repurchase five million shares as part of its ongoing stock repurchase program.
Those shares represent almost 4% of its 129.66 million shares outstanding.
More than one million shares will be repurchased and reserved for reissue to shareholders of FirstFed Northern Kentucky Bancorp, upon completion of its merger with Huntington, the bank said Wednesday.
Since August 1987, Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington has repurchased 9.8 million shares, with only 375,654 shares remaining to be repurchased under previous authorizations.
Increasingly Common
Huntington previously announced a five-for-four stock split that will take effect July 29. The stock repurchase figures are calculated post-split.
As banks become better capitalized, stock repurchase programs have become increasingly common throughout the industry.
In addition to nearly all the major money centers, regionals and small banks like Huntington, and last month AmSouth Bancorp., have turned to repurchases to improve their credit quality and spend their excess capital.
