HomeTrust Bancshares (NASDAQ:HTBI) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of HomeTrust Bancshares (NASDAQ:HTBI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on HTBI. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $30.00.

HomeTrust Bancshares Trading Up 0.5 %

HTBI opened at $23.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $417.69 million, a PE ratio of 8.06 and a beta of 0.77. HomeTrust Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $18.02 and a fifty-two week high of $30.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $25.67 and its 200 day moving average is $24.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

HomeTrust Bancshares (NASDAQ:HTBI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. HomeTrust Bancshares had a net margin of 18.77% and a return on equity of 11.41%. The company had revenue of $50.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.66 million.

HomeTrust Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. HomeTrust Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 14.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in HomeTrust Bancshares by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,336,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,537,000 after acquiring an additional 191,524 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its position in HomeTrust Bancshares by 237.3% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 239,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,447,000 after purchasing an additional 168,469 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 394.9% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 90,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,011,000 after purchasing an additional 72,601 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 121.8% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 123,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 67,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 31.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 194,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,872,000 after buying an additional 46,592 shares during the period. 60.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About HomeTrust Bancshares

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank that provides a range of retail and commercial banking products and services. The company's deposit products include savings, money market, noninterest-bearing, and interest-bearing checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit for individuals, business, and nonprofit organizations.