Vest Financial LLC Increases Position in Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC has increased its holdings in Home BancShares, Inc. by 22.5%, now owning 73,280 shares worth approximately $2.1 million.
• CEO John W. Allison sold 110,000 shares at an average price of $30.02, reducing his ownership by 1.95% to approximately 5.54 million shares.
• Recent analyst ratings show a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Home BancShares, with price targets ranging from $32.00 to $35.00.

Vest Financial LLC raised its position in Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB - Free Report) by 22.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,473 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Home BancShares were worth $2,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Home BancShares by 60.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home BancShares during the first quarter worth $820,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Home BancShares by 60.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Home BancShares by 12.8% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Home BancShares by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 21,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $612,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Home BancShares

In other Home BancShares news, CEO John W. Allison sold 110,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,540,776 shares in the company, valued at $166,334,095.52. This represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HOMB shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Home BancShares from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Home BancShares in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Home BancShares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Home BancShares from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Home BancShares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home BancShares currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.00.

Home BancShares Stock Performance

NYSE HOMB opened at $28.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.22 and a 1 year high of $32.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.35.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.58. Home BancShares had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The company had revenue of $271.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Home BancShares's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Home BancShares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. Home BancShares's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

Home BancShares 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.

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