Short Interest in Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) Increases By 22.6%

Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 104,632 shares, a growth of 22.6% from the February 26th total of 85,371 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 99,278 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Home Bancorp in a report on Friday. Zacks Research upgraded Home Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Home Bancorp from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $63.00.

Insider Activity at Home Bancorp

In other Home Bancorp news, Director Chris P. Rader acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.50 per share, with a total value of $29,750.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 17,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,053,983. This represents a 2.90% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Home Bancorp by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 375,209 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,383,000 after acquiring an additional 3,760 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Home Bancorp by 20.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 126,791 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,565,000 after purchasing an additional 21,945 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Bancorp by 64.2% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 119,053 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,468,000 after purchasing an additional 46,546 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Home Bancorp by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 110,496 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,387,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Home Bancorp by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 106,303 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,144,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.41% of the company’s stock.

Home Bancorp Stock Up 0.3%

HBCP traded up $0.16 during trading on Monday, hitting $60.25. The company had a trading volume of 133,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 123,070. The company has a market capitalization of $472.36 million, a PE ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Home Bancorp has a one year low of $39.59 and a one year high of $64.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.65.

Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. Home Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 22.01%.The firm had revenue of $38.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.73 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Home Bancorp will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Home Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.12%.

About Home Bancorp

Home Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for The Home National Bank, a full-service financial institution headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana. The company operates as a regional commercial bank serving individuals, small businesses and municipalities across Louisiana and East Texas. Through its network of branches and digital banking platforms, Home Bancorp offers a range of deposit and lending solutions designed to meet the needs of its local markets.

The company’s core offerings include retail deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as a variety of commercial and consumer lending services.