Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) Short Interest Update

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,360,000 shares, a growth of 6.6% from the December 15th total of 4,090,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 986,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HOMB traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.43. 1,782,080 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 830,528. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Home Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.38 and a 1 year high of $32.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.89. The company has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 1.10.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $258.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.67 million. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) had a net margin of 26.69% and a return on equity of 10.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Home Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.195 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James Pat Hickman sold 63,997 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.77, for a total value of $1,969,187.69. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 175,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,400,135. This represents a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Jennifer C. Floyd sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.18, for a total transaction of $60,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,664.24. The trade was a 36.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 90,997 shares of company stock worth $2,782,548. Company insiders own 7.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 69,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,979,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 85,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,326,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 41.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 3.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in a research note on Thursday. Hovde Group reduced their price objective on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

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.