Formula Growth Ltd. Purchases Shares of 51,912 Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB

Formula Growth Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 51,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,482,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Home BancShares in the second quarter valued at $735,643,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Home BancShares during the fourth quarter worth about $66,673,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in Home BancShares during the second quarter worth about $62,027,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Home BancShares in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,068,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Home BancShares by 37.3% in 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 buying an additional 830,823 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John Stephen Tipton sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.59, for a total value of $379,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 76,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,410,569.72. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on HOMB. Wall Street Zen upgraded Home BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Home BancShares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (up from $29.00) on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Home BancShares from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Home BancShares from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.83.

Home BancShares Price Performance

HOMB stock opened at $29.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.23. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.50 and a 12-month high of $31.70.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $295.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.70 million. Home BancShares had a return on equity of 11.12% and a net margin of 32.10%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.51 EPS for the current year.

Home BancShares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Home BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Home BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.02%.

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.