Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,740,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the May 31st total of 4,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 892,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Insider Activity at Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

In other Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) news, CAO Jennifer C. Floyd sold 2,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.53, for a total transaction of $57,228.49. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $24,530. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) news, CAO Jennifer C. Floyd sold 2,333 shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.53, for a total value of $57,228.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,530. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brian Davis sold 20,544 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.52, for a total transaction of $503,738.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,186,987.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) during the 1st quarter worth $543,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 0.4% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 409,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 15.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 44,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 5,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 924,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,727,000 after purchasing an additional 49,216 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

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

Shares of HOMB stock opened at $23.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Home Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.61 and a 12 month high of $25.80.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 28.17%. The company had revenue of $246.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Home Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HOMB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 22nd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.00.

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.