HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:HTB) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:HTB) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,139,502 shares, an increase of 50.7% from the August 31st total of 756,230 shares. Currently, 7.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 230,989 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

HomeTrust Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HTB traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $46.04. 199,241 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 120,152. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.86. HomeTrust Bancshares has a 52-week low of $38.30 and a 52-week high of $52.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $768.41 million, a PE ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $54.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.22 million. HomeTrust Bancshares had a net margin of 22.50% and a return on equity of 10.88%. Equities research analysts anticipate that HomeTrust Bancshares will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

HomeTrust Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. HomeTrust Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HomeTrust Bancshares

In other news, Director Laura Kendall sold 10,000 shares of HomeTrust Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total transaction of $511,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,238,828.77. This trade represents a 29.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HomeTrust Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTB. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $83,715,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in HomeTrust Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth $35,667,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in HomeTrust Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth $19,884,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in HomeTrust Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $4,099,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in HomeTrust Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $3,647,000. 60.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HTB. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, HomeTrust Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

About HomeTrust Bancshares

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. Founded in 1926, HomeTrust Bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations.

The bank offers a range of deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts. Its lending activities include residential mortgages, home equity loans, consumer loans, commercial real estate financing and loans for small and mid-sized businesses.