Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,400,000 shares, a drop of 11.1% from the January 15th total of 4,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John W. Allison purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.76 per share, with a total value of $307,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 5,693,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $175,122,278.32. The trade was a 0.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 315,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,544,000 after purchasing an additional 28,761 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in the third quarter worth about $493,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 12.2% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 289,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,831,000 after acquiring an additional 31,493 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 277.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 23,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after acquiring an additional 17,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in the 3rd quarter valued at about $439,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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

HOMB traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.09. 981,916 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,127,417. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.48. Home Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.38 and a 52-week high of $32.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.02). Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 27.39%. The company had revenue of $258.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Home Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a $0.195 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on HOMB. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Hovde Group decreased their price objective on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, 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, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.