Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 69,698 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 21% from the previous session’s volume of 88,631 shares.The stock last traded at $70.2350 and had previously closed at $69.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HBCP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Home Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Home Bancorp in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.50.

Home Bancorp Trading Up 1.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $553.70 million, a P/E ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.38.

Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The bank reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.02. Home Bancorp had a net margin of 22.23% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $39.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.57 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Home Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Home Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Home Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John Zollinger, IV sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.68, for a total value of $53,760.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,643 shares in the company, valued at $547,850.24. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HBCP. PDT Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Bancorp by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 6,798 shares of the bank’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Home Bancorp by 2.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,705 shares of the bank’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Bancorp by 0.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Home Bancorp by 11.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BCM Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Home Bancorp by 11.2% during the first quarter. BCM Advisors LLC now owns 6,223 shares of the bank’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.41% of the company’s stock.

Home Bancorp Company Profile

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.