Wall Street Zen Upgrades Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) to “Hold”

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on HOMB. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Home BancShares from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Home BancShares from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Home BancShares in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home BancShares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

Home BancShares Price Performance

Home BancShares stock opened at $28.12 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $28.87 and its 200 day moving average is $28.39. Home BancShares has a one year low of $24.22 and a one year high of $32.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.58. Home BancShares had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The firm had revenue of $271.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Home BancShares will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Home BancShares

In other Home BancShares news, CEO John W. Allison sold 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.02, for a total value of $3,302,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 5,540,776 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home BancShares

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its stake in Home BancShares by 76.7% during the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home BancShares during the first quarter worth about $64,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Home BancShares by 60.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Home BancShares by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Home BancShares Company 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.