Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 104,632 shares, an increase of 22.6% from the February 26th total of 85,371 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 99,278 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Chris P. Rader purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.50 per share, for a total transaction of $29,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 17,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,053,983. This represents a 2.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Home Bancorp by 11.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Home Bancorp by 80.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,258 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 5,476 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Home Bancorp by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,749 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Home Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $612,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Home Bancorp by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,669 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,878 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HBCP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Home Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Hovde Group increased their target price on Home Bancorp from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Home Bancorp in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

Home Bancorp Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ HBCP traded up $0.33 on Tuesday, hitting $60.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 226,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,270. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.38 and its 200 day moving average is $57.69. The firm has a market cap of $474.95 million, a PE ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.58. Home Bancorp has a 1-year low of $39.59 and a 1-year high of $64.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. Home Bancorp had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company had revenue of $38.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.73 million. As a group, analysts predict that Home Bancorp will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Home Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 21.12%.

About Home Bancorp

Home Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for The Home National Bank, a full-service financial institution headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana. The company operates as a regional commercial bank serving individuals, small businesses and municipalities across Louisiana and East Texas. Through its network of branches and digital banking platforms, Home Bancorp offers a range of deposit and lending solutions designed to meet the needs of its local markets.

The company’s core offerings include retail deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as a variety of commercial and consumer lending services.