Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Hovde Group decreased their target price on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.40.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HOMB opened at $27.65 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.82. Home Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.42 and a 52 week high of $32.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.93.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 27.39%. The company had revenue of $260.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.20 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Home Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. This is an increase from Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)’s payout ratio is currently 38.10%.

Insider Transactions at Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

In other Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) news, CAO Jennifer C. Floyd sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.45, for a total transaction of $68,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,062.45. This represents a 36.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,291,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $574,263,000 after acquiring an additional 121,845 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,791,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,211,000 after purchasing an additional 124,891 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,259,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,256,000 after buying an additional 19,290 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,166,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,322,000 after buying an additional 120,691 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,169,000. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

About Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

Home Bancshares, Inc (Conway, AR) operates as the bank holding company for Centennial Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, and related financial services to businesses, real estate developers and investors, individuals, and municipalities. Its deposit products include checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.