Insider Buying: Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) CEO Purchases $2,696,000.00 in Stock

Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB) CEO John Allison purchased 100,000 shares of Home BancShares stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.96 per share, with a total value of $2,696,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,798,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,339,044.96. This trade represents a 1.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Home BancShares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HOMB opened at $26.66 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.49 and a 200 day moving average of $27.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.75. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.67 and a 12-month high of $30.83.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The company had revenue of $266.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.06 million. Home BancShares had a net margin of 32.48% and a return on equity of 11.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.48 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, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Home BancShares’s payout ratio is 34.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home BancShares

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in Home BancShares by 52.3% during the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,064,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,667,000 after purchasing an additional 365,440 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Home BancShares by 6.0% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 31,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Home BancShares during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,427,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Home BancShares by 7.6% during the first quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in Home BancShares during the first quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HOMB. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Home BancShares from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Home BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Piper Sandler set a $33.00 target price on shares of Home BancShares and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Home BancShares from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three equities 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.40.

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.