Wall Street Zen Downgrades Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) to Sell

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

A number of other analysts have also commented on HOMB. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Home BancShares in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Home BancShares from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $34.00 price objective on Home BancShares and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.83.

Home BancShares Stock Performance

Home BancShares stock opened at $27.04 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Home BancShares has a 12-month low of $24.22 and a 12-month high of $32.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.78.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.01. Home BancShares had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 31.20%.The business had revenue of $277.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Home BancShares will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Home BancShares

In other Home BancShares news, CEO John W. Allison sold 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.02, for a total transaction of $3,302,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,540,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $166,334,095.52. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home BancShares

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HOMB. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,545,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,431,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Home BancShares by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,876,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,772,000 after purchasing an additional 626,655 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $12,931,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home BancShares by 87.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 612,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,434,000 after purchasing an additional 286,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

About Home BancShares

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.