Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.00.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Home BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Home BancShares from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Stephens increased their target price on Home BancShares from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 price target (up from $29.00) on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Home BancShares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Home BancShares Price Performance

Home BancShares stock opened at $29.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.67. Home BancShares has a 52 week low of $25.50 and a 52 week high of $31.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $295.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.70 million. Home BancShares had a net margin of 32.10% and a return on equity of 11.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Home BancShares will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home BancShares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Home BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Home BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home BancShares news, CEO John Tipton sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.59, for a total value of $379,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 76,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,410,569.72. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home BancShares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HOMB. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Home BancShares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $735,643,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Home BancShares by 2,937.2% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,272,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $179,068,000 after acquiring an additional 6,065,581 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the 4th quarter worth $66,673,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the 2nd quarter worth $62,027,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Home BancShares during the second quarter worth $44,068,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Home BancShares Company Profile

Home BancShares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Its principal subsidiary, Centennial Bank, provides community banking services to individuals, businesses and institutional customers.

Centennial Bank offers a range of deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as commercial, residential mortgage, real estate, agricultural and consumer loans. The bank also provides treasury management, online and mobile banking, cash management and other financial services designed for business and retail customers.

Home BancShares was founded in 1998 and has grown through a combination of organic expansion and acquisitions.