Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 37,428 Shares of Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Home BancShares by 19.2%, holding approximately 157,892 shares valued at $4,464,000 after selling 37,428 shares in the first quarter.
• Home BancShares announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, set to be paid on September 3rd, representing an annualized yield of 2.7%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on Home BancShares, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $33.20, despite a recent downgrade from some analysts.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB - Free Report) by 19.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 157,892 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 37,428 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Home BancShares worth $4,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Home BancShares by 60.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Home BancShares by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Home BancShares by 60.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on HOMB. Wall Street Zen downgraded Home BancShares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Home BancShares from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Home BancShares from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.20.

Home BancShares Stock Down 0.1%

HOMB traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.74. 880,720 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 797,386. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $28.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.22 and a 12-month high of $32.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.81.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.58. Home BancShares had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 29.58%.The business had revenue of $271.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.56 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home BancShares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Home BancShares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home BancShares

In other news, CEO John Stephen Tipton sold 24,159 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total transaction of $664,855.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 53,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,467,036.16. This represents a 31.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John W. Allison sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.02, for a total value of $3,302,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,540,776 shares in the company, valued at $166,334,095.52. The trade was a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Home BancShares Company Profile

Home Bancshares, Inc (Conway, AR) operates as the bank holding company for Centennial Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, and related financial services to businesses, real estate developers and investors, individuals, and municipalities. Its deposit products include checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.