HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:HTB) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 50.7% in September

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:HTB) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,139,502 shares, an increase of 50.7% from the August 31st total of 756,230 shares. Currently, 7.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 230,989 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at HomeTrust Bancshares

In other HomeTrust Bancshares news, Director Laura Kendall sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total value of $511,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,238,828.77. This represents a 29.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HTB. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in HomeTrust Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $3,647,000. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new stake in HomeTrust Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,998,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in HomeTrust Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,125,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in HomeTrust Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth about $866,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in HomeTrust Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth about $1,821,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on HTB shares. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded HomeTrust Bancshares from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

HomeTrust Bancshares Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE HTB traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 119,518. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.88. HomeTrust Bancshares has a 12 month low of $38.30 and a 12 month high of $52.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $773.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 0.81.

HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $54.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.22 million. HomeTrust Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 22.50%. On average, analysts anticipate that HomeTrust Bancshares will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HomeTrust Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. HomeTrust Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 15.75%.

About HomeTrust Bancshares

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. Founded in 1926, HomeTrust Bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations.

The bank offers a range of deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts. Its lending activities include residential mortgages, home equity loans, consumer loans, commercial real estate financing and loans for small and mid-sized businesses.