MQS Management LLC Buys 20,202 Shares of Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB

MQS Management LLC lifted its stake in Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB) by 215.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 29,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,202 shares during the period. Home BancShares accounts for approximately 0.5% of MQS Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Home BancShares were worth $797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HOMB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Home BancShares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,673,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Home BancShares by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,060,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,031,000 after purchasing an additional 830,823 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Home BancShares by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,423,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $567,372,000 after purchasing an additional 621,751 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Home BancShares by 82.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,120,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,716,000 after buying an additional 508,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home BancShares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $12,931,000. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HOMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Home BancShares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Home BancShares from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Piper Sandler set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Home BancShares and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Home BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Home BancShares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John W. Allison bought 100,000 shares of Home BancShares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.96 per share, with a total value of $2,696,000.00. Following the acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer C. Floyd sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.11, for a total transaction of $81,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,654.85. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 6.39% of the company’s stock.

Home BancShares Stock Down 0.8%

HOMB opened at $28.54 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.76. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.50 and a 1-year high of $30.83. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60. Home BancShares had a net margin of 32.48% and a return on equity of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $266.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Home BancShares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Home BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.57%.

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.