Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) Short Interest Up 34.5% in January

Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 92,448 shares, a growth of 34.5% from the December 31st total of 68,729 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 24,552 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 24,552 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on HBCP shares. Hovde Group lifted their target price on Home Bancorp from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Home Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Home Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.00.

Home Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Home Bancorp stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.77. The company had a trading volume of 52,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,942. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.97. The stock has a market cap of $475.79 million, a PE ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Home Bancorp has a 1-year low of $39.59 and a 1-year high of $64.17.

Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $37.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.73 million. Home Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 22.01%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Home Bancorp will post 4.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Home Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Home Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Home Bancorp by 116.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Home Bancorp by 31.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in Home Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $118,000. Finally, Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.41% of the company’s stock.

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.