Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Home BancShares stake by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 47,614 shares and leaving it with 286,389 shares worth about $8.0 million.
• Wall Street sentiment has softened: several analysts lowered price targets, and the stock now carries a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $31.20.
• Home BancShares posted EPS of $0.60 in its latest quarter, matching estimates, and recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, implying an annual yield of about 3.1%.

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB - Free Report) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 286,389 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 47,614 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.15% of Home BancShares worth $7,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Home BancShares by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,277 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Lathrop Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Home BancShares by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Co. now owns 19,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Home BancShares in the fourth quarter valued at $2,658,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Home BancShares in the fourth quarter valued at $261,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Home BancShares by 24,937.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 20,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 20,199 shares during the period. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on HOMB shares. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Home BancShares from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Home BancShares from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Home BancShares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Home BancShares from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $31.00) on shares of Home BancShares in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Home BancShares presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.20.

Insider Transactions at Home BancShares

In related news, CEO John W. Allison acquired 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.96 per share, with a total value of $2,696,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 5,798,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,339,044.96. This represents a 1.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer C. Floyd sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.11, for a total transaction of $81,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,654.85. This represents a 39.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 6.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Home BancShares Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Home BancShares stock opened at $27.14 on Friday. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.50 and a 52-week high of $30.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $26.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.75. The firm has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.68.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60. Home BancShares had a net margin of 32.48% and a return on equity of 11.11%. The business had revenue of $266.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Home BancShares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Home BancShares's payout ratio is currently 34.57%.

Home BancShares Profile

Home BancShares, Inc is a bank holding company based in Conway, Arkansas, operating through its primary subsidiary, Home Bank, National Association. Founded in March 1999, the company provides a comprehensive suite of banking services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, and public entities. These services encompass deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, treasury management, and wealth management solutions.

The company's core products include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts, as well as a variety of loan offerings such as commercial real estate financing, equipment loans, agricultural lending, and residential mortgages.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.