Villanova Investment Management Co LLC Sells 59,176 Shares of Home BancShares, Inc. $HOMB

Key Points

• Villanova Investment Management Co LLC reduced its holdings in Home BancShares, Inc. by 65.6%, owning 31,052 shares after selling 59,176 shares, which now constitute about 2.5% of their total holdings.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted their positions in Home BancShares, with notable transactions including BI Asset Management acquiring a new position valued at $39,000 and Fifth Third Bancorp increasing their holdings by 60.5%.
• Home BancShares announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.7% and a payout ratio of 36.53%.

Villanova Investment Management Co LLC trimmed its position in shares of Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB - Free Report) by 65.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,052 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 59,176 shares during the period. Home BancShares comprises 2.5% of Villanova Investment Management Co LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC's holdings in Home BancShares were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HOMB. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Home BancShares in the 1st quarter worth about $41,431,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Home BancShares by 1,545.1% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 393,171 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,127,000 after acquiring an additional 369,271 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Home BancShares by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,404,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $237,594,000 after acquiring an additional 196,563 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Home BancShares in the 1st quarter worth about $3,680,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Home BancShares by 82.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 276,814 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,826,000 after acquiring an additional 125,301 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HOMB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Home BancShares from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Home BancShares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Home BancShares from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.00.

Home BancShares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HOMB traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.93. The company had a trading volume of 183,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,001,081. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $29.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.37. The stock has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 0.81. Home BancShares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.22 and a 1 year high of $32.90. 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 (NYSE:HOMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58. The business had revenue of $271.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $262.56 million. Home BancShares had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home BancShares Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Home BancShares

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.