Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB Stake Lessened by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB) by 26.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 921,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 327,034 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Home BancShares were worth $25,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Home BancShares in the second quarter valued at $735,643,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Home BancShares by 9.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,720,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,979,000 after acquiring an additional 559,603 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Home BancShares by 13.4% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,471,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $93,490,000 after purchasing an additional 410,719 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the second quarter worth about $62,027,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the second quarter worth about $44,068,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home BancShares Stock Up 2.3%

HOMB stock opened at $30.44 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.56. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.50 and a 12 month high of $31.70. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.01. Home BancShares had a net margin of 32.36% and a return on equity of 11.14%. The firm had revenue of $288.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $294.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. Home BancShares’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Home BancShares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. Home BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.70%.

Insider Activity at Home BancShares

In other news, Director John W. Allison II sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.06, for a total value of $405,810.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 636,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,133,039.70. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HOMB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens lifted their target price on Home BancShares from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. 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 report on Friday, July 17th. Hovde Group started coverage on Home BancShares in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on Home BancShares from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.57.

About Home BancShares

Home BancShares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Through its principal subsidiary, Centennial Bank, the company provides banking services to businesses, individuals and institutions, including commercial and consumer lending, residential and commercial real estate loans, deposit accounts, cash management and online banking services.

Centennial Bank serves customers through a network of financial centers and digital banking channels in markets across Arkansas, Florida, Alabama and Texas.