Short Interest in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) Increases By 6.6%

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,360,000 shares, a growth of 6.6% from the December 31st total of 4,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 986,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John W. Allison bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.76 per share, for a total transaction of $307,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 5,693,182 shares in the company, valued at $175,122,278.32. This represents a 0.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Jennifer C. Floyd sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.18, for a total value of $60,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,664.24. The trade was a 36.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 90,997 shares of company stock worth $2,782,548 over the last three months. 7.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,465,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,983,000 after buying an additional 60,588 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 3,259,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,256,000 after buying an additional 19,290 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,046,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,430,000 after buying an additional 134,741 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,765,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,835,000 after buying an additional 47,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 2,609.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,301,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $352,520,000 after buying an additional 1,253,259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Hovde Group reduced their target price on Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) Price Performance

Shares of HOMB traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.31. The stock had a trading volume of 150,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,789. The company has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 1.10. Home Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.38 and a 12-month high of $32.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.65 and its 200 day moving average is $28.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $258.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.67 million. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) had a net margin of 27.39% and a return on equity of 10.31%. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Home Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)’s payout ratio is 38.61%.

About Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

Home Bancshares, Inc (Conway, AR) operates as the bank holding company for Centennial Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, and related financial services to businesses, real estate developers and investors, individuals, and municipalities. Its deposit products include checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.