Insider Selling: Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) Director Sells 5,563 Shares of Stock

Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB) Director Donna Townsell sold 5,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.38, for a total value of $157,877.94. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 218,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,199,894.80. This represents a 2.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Home BancShares Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE HOMB traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $28.93. 899,294 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,272,056. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.22 and a 1 year high of $31.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.35.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The firm had revenue of $282.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.48 million. Home BancShares had a return on equity of 11.16% and a net margin of 32.18%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home BancShares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. Home BancShares’s payout ratio is 34.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Home BancShares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,545,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Home BancShares by 52.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,230,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,111,000 after acquiring an additional 767,844 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Home BancShares by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,423,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $567,372,000 after acquiring an additional 621,751 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Home BancShares by 82.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,120,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,716,000 after acquiring an additional 508,127 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HOMB has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Home BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (up from $34.00) on shares of Home BancShares in a report on Friday, January 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $31.00 target price on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Home BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.60.

About Home BancShares

Home BancShares, Inc is a bank holding company based in Conway, Arkansas, operating through its primary subsidiary, Home Bank, National Association. Founded in March 1999, the company provides a comprehensive suite of banking services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, and public entities. These services encompass deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, treasury management, and wealth management solutions.

The company’s core products include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts, as well as a variety of loan offerings such as commercial real estate financing, equipment loans, agricultural lending, and residential mortgages.