HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded HomeTrust Bancshares from “sell” to “hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with a $52.00 target price.
• HomeTrust shares opened at $48.10, near their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company recently reported quarterly EPS of $1.11, beating estimates of $0.88, on revenue of $55.95 million.
• Institutional investors own 60.94% of the stock, with BlackRock, Dimensional Fund Advisors and Renaissance Technologies among investors that recently established positions.

HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on HTB. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of HomeTrust Bancshares to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (a-)" rating on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research lowered HomeTrust Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.00.

HomeTrust Bancshares Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE HTB opened at $48.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $802.79 million, a PE ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.81. HomeTrust Bancshares has a one year low of $38.82 and a one year high of $52.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.11.

HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.23. HomeTrust Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.12% and a net margin of 23.19%. The company had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that HomeTrust Bancshares will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at HomeTrust Bancshares

In other news, Director Laura Kendall sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total transaction of $511,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,238,828.77. This represents a 29.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.02% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HomeTrust Bancshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in HomeTrust Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $83,715,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in HomeTrust Bancshares during the first quarter worth $35,667,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in HomeTrust Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $19,884,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in HomeTrust Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,099,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $3,647,000. 60.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About HomeTrust Bancshares

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc is the holding company for HomeTrust Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. The company provides banking services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations through a network of branches and digital banking channels.

HomeTrust Bank offers deposit products such as checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, along with residential mortgages, home equity loans, consumer lending and commercial loans.

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