Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stock Holdings in Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 286,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 47,614 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Home BancShares were worth $7,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Home BancShares by 110.6% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Home BancShares by 76.7% during the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home BancShares in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Home BancShares in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Home BancShares in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Home BancShares Stock Performance

Shares of HOMB opened at $27.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.75. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.50 and a 1 year high of $30.83.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The business had revenue of $266.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.06 million. Home BancShares had a net margin of 32.48% and a return on equity of 11.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Home BancShares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Home BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HOMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler set a $33.00 price target on shares of Home BancShares and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Home BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Home BancShares from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Home BancShares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $31.00) on shares of Home BancShares in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Home BancShares presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.20.

Insider Activity at Home BancShares

In other news, CEO John W. Allison acquired 100,000 shares of Home BancShares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.96 per share, with a total value of $2,696,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 5,798,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,339,044.96. This represents a 1.75% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer C. Floyd sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.11, for a total transaction of $81,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,635 shares in the company, valued at $125,654.85. The trade was a 39.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 6.39% of the company’s stock.

About Home BancShares

Home BancShares, Inc is a bank holding company based in Conway, Arkansas, operating through its primary subsidiary, Home Bank, National Association. Founded in March 1999, the company provides a comprehensive suite of banking services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, and public entities. These services encompass deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, treasury management, and wealth management solutions.

The company’s core products include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts, as well as a variety of loan offerings such as commercial real estate financing, equipment loans, agricultural lending, and residential mortgages.