Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey Raises Position in Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its holdings in shares of Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB) by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,279 shares during the quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Home BancShares were worth $1,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Home BancShares in the first quarter valued at about $41,431,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the second quarter valued at about $5,825,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Home BancShares by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,404,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $237,594,000 after purchasing an additional 196,563 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Home BancShares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,783,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Home BancShares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,680,000. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Home BancShares in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Home BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Home BancShares in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $34.00 price target on Home BancShares and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John W. Allison sold 110,000 shares of Home BancShares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.02, for a total transaction of $3,302,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,540,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $166,334,095.52. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Home BancShares Stock Up 3.7%

NYSE:HOMB opened at $27.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $27.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.41. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.22 and a 1-year high of $32.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03 and a beta of 0.81.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $277.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.96 million. Home BancShares had a net margin of 31.20% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Home BancShares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Home BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Home BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.21%.

Home BancShares Profile

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.