Vest Financial LLC Grows Holdings in Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Home BancShares by 52.4% in Q4 to 204,289 shares (about $5.68M), and institutional investors now own roughly 67.31% of the stock.
• Insider activity: CEO John W. Allison bought 100,000 shares at $26.96 ($2.696M), raising his stake to ~5.8M shares, while Director John W. Allison II sold 5,000 shares.
• Analyst and market view: ratings are mixed (three Buys, three Holds) with a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" and a $31.40 target, though several firms recently cut ratings or trimmed targets.

Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB - Free Report) by 52.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 204,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 70,256 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.10% of Home BancShares worth $5,675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HOMB. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Home BancShares by 76.7% during the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,329 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Home BancShares in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Home BancShares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. acquired a new stake in Home BancShares during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on HOMB. Zacks Research downgraded Home BancShares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Stephens cut their price target on Home BancShares from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Home BancShares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Home BancShares from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $31.00 target price on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John W. Allison II sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.19, for a total transaction of $140,950.00. Following the sale, the director owned 651,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,379,739.05. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John W. Allison acquired 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.96 per share, for a total transaction of $2,696,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,798,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,339,044.96. The trade was a 1.75% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 6.39% of the company's stock.

Home BancShares Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:HOMB opened at $26.99 on Wednesday. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.67 and a 12-month high of $30.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.87.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Home BancShares's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home BancShares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 presently 34.57%.

Home BancShares Company 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.

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