HomeStreet (NASDAQ:HMST) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of HomeStreet (NASDAQ:HMST) in a report published on Saturday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

HMST has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of HomeStreet from $13.50 to $14.50 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of HomeStreet from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $13.50 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $12.25.

HomeStreet Trading Down 1.6 %

HMST opened at $15.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $287.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.16 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.06. HomeStreet has a 12 month low of $4.20 and a 12 month high of $16.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $14.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.77.

HomeStreet (NASDAQ:HMST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $114.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.33 million. HomeStreet had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 3.30%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HomeStreet will post -0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HomeStreet news, Director Paulette Lemon sold 2,401 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.59, for a total transaction of $37,431.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,829.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HomeStreet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HMST. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HomeStreet by 113.6% during the 2nd quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 706,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,051,000 after purchasing an additional 375,581 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HomeStreet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,720,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HomeStreet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,112,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HomeStreet by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 586,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,045,000 after purchasing an additional 127,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of HomeStreet by 70.8% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 167,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 69,384 shares in the last quarter. 74.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About HomeStreet

HomeStreet, Inc operates as the bank holding company for HomeStreet Bank that provides commercial, mortgage, and consumer/retail banking services in the Western United States. The company offers personal and business checking, savings, interest-bearing negotiable order of withdrawal, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; credit cards; insurance; and treasury management services.