Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) Short Interest Up 16.4% in April

Key Points

• Short interest rose 16.4% in April to 121,117 shares (about 1.6% of the float) with a days-to-cover ratio of 0.8, indicating a modest but notable uptick in bearish positioning.
• Home Bancorp beat quarterly estimates with $1.45 EPS vs. $1.39 expected and $38.22M revenue, but analysts maintain a consensus rating of Hold with an average target price of $65.50.
• The bank declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share (a 2.0% yield) payable May 15 (ex-dividend May 4), and a director recently purchased 500 shares while insiders own about 6.2% of the stock.

Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 121,117 shares, a growth of 16.4% from the March 31st total of 104,019 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 156,709 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Home Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Home Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Home Bancorp from $62.00 to $65.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Home Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.50.

Home Bancorp Price Performance

HBCP opened at $62.46 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $61.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Home Bancorp has a 1 year low of $47.96 and a 1 year high of $65.94. The firm has a market cap of $489.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.53.

Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $38.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.63 million. Home Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 22.18%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Home Bancorp will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. Home Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Chris P. Rader acquired 500 shares of Home Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.50 per share, for a total transaction of $29,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,053,983. This trade represents a 2.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Home Bancorp by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 375,209 shares of the bank's stock valued at $20,383,000 after acquiring an additional 3,760 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Bancorp by 64.2% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 119,053 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,468,000 after purchasing an additional 46,546 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Home Bancorp by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 110,496 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,387,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Home Bancorp by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 106,303 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,144,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Home Bancorp by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 103,243 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,967,000 after purchasing an additional 30,224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.41% of the company's stock.

Home Bancorp Company Profile

Home Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for The Home National Bank, a full-service financial institution headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana. The company operates as a regional commercial bank serving individuals, small businesses and municipalities across Louisiana and East Texas. Through its network of branches and digital banking platforms, Home Bancorp offers a range of deposit and lending solutions designed to meet the needs of its local markets.

The company's core offerings include retail deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as a variety of commercial and consumer lending services.

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