Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

HOMB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research raised Home BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $31.00 price objective on Home BancShares in a report on Monday, January 12th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (up from $34.00) on shares of Home BancShares in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.60.

Home BancShares Stock Performance

HOMB opened at $28.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.45 and a 200 day moving average of $28.34. Home BancShares has a fifty-two week low of $24.22 and a fifty-two week high of $31.27.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The business had revenue of $282.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.48 million. Home BancShares had a net margin of 32.18% and a return on equity of 11.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Home BancShares will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home BancShares

In other news, Director Donna Townsell sold 5,563 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.38, for a total value of $157,877.94. Following the sale, the director owned 218,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,199,894.80. This represents a 2.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home BancShares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Home BancShares during the 2nd quarter valued at $64,545,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Home BancShares by 52.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,230,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,111,000 after buying an additional 767,844 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Home BancShares by 14.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,876,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,772,000 after acquiring an additional 626,655 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Home BancShares by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,423,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $567,372,000 after acquiring an additional 621,751 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Home BancShares by 82.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,120,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,716,000 after acquiring an additional 508,127 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.