Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HOMB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group lowered their target price on Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) Stock Performance

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) stock opened at $29.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.46. Home Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.38 and a 12-month high of $32.90.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $258.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.67 million. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 27.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Home Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John W. Allison acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.76 per share, for a total transaction of $307,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 5,693,182 shares in the company, valued at $175,122,278.32. This represents a 0.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James Pat Hickman sold 63,997 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.77, for a total transaction of $1,969,187.69. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 175,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,400,135. This represents a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 7.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 186.2% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 3.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) during the third quarter valued at approximately $187,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 41.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

About Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

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.