Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 49,700 shares, a drop of 10.6% from the July 15th total of 55,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 18,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Home Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of HBCP stock traded down $0.29 on Tuesday, hitting $41.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 500 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,192. Home Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $31.47 and a fifty-two week high of $45.44. The company has a market capitalization of $337.07 million, a PE ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.11 and its 200-day moving average is $37.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. Home Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.08% and a net margin of 19.16%. The business had revenue of $49.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Home Bancorp will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Home Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group lifted their target price on Home Bancorp from $45.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel G. Guidry sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.48, for a total transaction of $207,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,771,652.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO David T. Kirkley sold 1,180 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.73, for a total value of $43,341.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,096.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Daniel G. Guidry sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.48, for a total transaction of $207,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,771,652.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in Home Bancorp by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 79,397 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,197,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Home Bancorp by 12.0% during the first quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 32,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 3,454 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Home Bancorp by 531.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 12,289 shares of the bank’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 10,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Home Bancorp by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,509 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,016,000 after buying an additional 1,925 shares during the period. 49.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Home Bancorp

Home Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Home Bank, National Association that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. It offers deposit products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, money market, savings, NOW, and certificates of deposit accounts.