StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on HomeStreet (NASDAQ:HMST)

Equities researchers at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of HomeStreet (NASDAQ:HMST) in a research report issued on Saturday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on HMST. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on HomeStreet from $13.50 to $14.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised HomeStreet from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $13.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, HomeStreet currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.25.

HomeStreet Price Performance

NASDAQ:HMST opened at $15.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $290.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.23 and a beta of 1.37. HomeStreet has a 1 year low of $4.20 and a 1 year high of $16.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.06, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

HomeStreet (NASDAQ:HMST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.01. HomeStreet had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 3.30%. The firm had revenue of $114.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.33 million. Equities analysts forecast that HomeStreet will post -0.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at HomeStreet

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in HomeStreet by 16.2% in the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in HomeStreet in the second quarter valued at about $122,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in HomeStreet by 23.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 2,703 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in HomeStreet by 10.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 1,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in HomeStreet in the fourth quarter valued at about $151,000. 74.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.