Freestone Grove Partners LP Buys New Stake in Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 108,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,106,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Home BancShares in the second quarter valued at $735,643,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Home BancShares by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,423,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $567,372,000 after purchasing an additional 621,751 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Home BancShares by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,720,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,979,000 after purchasing an additional 559,603 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Home BancShares by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,588,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,242,000 after purchasing an additional 238,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Home BancShares by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,471,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,490,000 after purchasing an additional 410,719 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HOMB shares. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (up from $29.00) on shares of Home BancShares in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Home BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Home BancShares from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Home BancShares from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of Home BancShares in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home BancShares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.83.

Home BancShares Stock Performance

NYSE HOMB opened at $29.66 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $30.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.24. Home BancShares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.50 and a twelve month high of $31.70. The company has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $295.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.70 million. Home BancShares had a return on equity of 11.12% and a net margin of 32.10%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Home BancShares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Home BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. Home BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is 38.02%.

Insider Transactions at Home BancShares

In related news, CEO John Stephen Tipton sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.59, for a total value of $379,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 76,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,410,569.72. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.39% of the company’s stock.

Home BancShares Company Profile

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.