Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Sell”

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HOMB. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Home BancShares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (up from $34.00) on shares of Home BancShares in a report on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Home BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $31.00 price target on Home BancShares in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.60.

Home BancShares Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE HOMB opened at $28.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.35. Home BancShares has a 12-month low of $24.22 and a 12-month high of $31.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.60. The company had revenue of $282.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.48 million. Home BancShares had a return on equity of 11.16% and a net margin of 32.18%.Home BancShares’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Home BancShares will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home BancShares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Home BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.85%.

Insider Activity at Home BancShares

In other news, Director Donna Townsell sold 5,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.38, for a total value of $157,877.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 218,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,199,894.80. The trade was a 2.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HOMB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Home BancShares in the second quarter valued at approximately $64,545,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Home BancShares by 52.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,230,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,111,000 after acquiring an additional 767,844 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Home BancShares by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,876,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,772,000 after acquiring an additional 626,655 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Home BancShares by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,423,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $567,372,000 after purchasing an additional 621,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Home BancShares by 82.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,120,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,716,000 after purchasing an additional 508,127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% 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.