Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.43 Million Investment in Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 53,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,427,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home BancShares by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 440,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,453,000 after purchasing an additional 15,259 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Home BancShares by 82.7% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 276,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,826,000 after purchasing an additional 125,301 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Home BancShares by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Home BancShares in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,015,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Home BancShares in the second quarter worth about $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HOMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Home BancShares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research downgraded Home BancShares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Home BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Piper Sandler set a $33.00 price objective on Home BancShares and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $31.00) on shares of Home BancShares in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.20.

Home BancShares Price Performance

Home BancShares stock opened at $28.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.77. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.50 and a 1 year high of $30.83.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60. Home BancShares had a net margin of 32.48% and a return on equity of 11.11%. The business had revenue of $266.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.06 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Home BancShares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Home BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.57%.

Insider Activity at Home BancShares

In other news, CEO John W. Allison bought 100,000 shares of Home BancShares stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.96 per share, for a total transaction of $2,696,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 5,798,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,339,044.96. This trade represents a 1.75% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer C. Floyd sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.11, for a total transaction of $81,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,654.85. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 6.39% of the company’s stock.

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.