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

Shares of Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday. Approximately 51,973 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the previous session’s volume of 86,550 shares. The stock last traded at $67.5150 and had previously closed at $67.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on HBCP. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Home Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Home Bancorp in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.50.

Home Bancorp Stock Down 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.34. The company has a market capitalization of $528.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Home Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Home Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Home Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 21.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John Zollinger, IV sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.68, for a total value of $53,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,643 shares in the company, valued at $547,850.24. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Home Bancorp by 1.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 429,581 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,024,000 after purchasing an additional 7,792 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Home Bancorp by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 110,496 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,387,000 after buying an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Home Bancorp by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,952,000 after buying an additional 2,737 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Home Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,429,000. Finally, Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Home Bancorp by 31.1% in the 1st quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 36,013 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,182,000 after buying an additional 8,539 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.41% of the company’s stock.

About Home Bancorp

Home Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for Home Bank, N.A., a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana. Through its banking subsidiary, the company provides financial services to individuals, families, businesses and organizations across its service area.

Home Bank offers deposit products such as checking, savings, money market and certificate accounts. Its lending activities include residential mortgage loans, home equity loans, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, commercial and industrial loans, and consumer loans.