Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares saw unusually strong trading with about 86,212 shares exchanged (up 7%), last trading near $64.35, above its 50‑day and 200‑day moving averages; the stock has a market cap of about $511M and a P/E of 11.12.
• Home Bancorp beat quarterly estimates—EPS $1.46 vs. $1.39 and revenue $38.05M vs. $33.73M—reports a 11.03% ROE and 22.01% net margin, and pays a $0.31 quarterly dividend (1.9% yield, 21.1% payout).
• Analysts rate the stock a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $63 target (three Buys, two Holds), while insiders and institutions have been active—an insider bought shares and institutional ownership is ~49.4% with recent stake increases by firms like AQR and RBC.

Shares of Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP - Get Free Report) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 86,212 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 7% from the previous session's volume of 80,534 shares.The stock last traded at $64.3460 and had previously closed at $64.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HBCP shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Home Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research downgraded Home Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Home Bancorp from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Home Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $510.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 0.53.

Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $38.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.73 million. Home Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 22.01%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Home Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Home Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 21.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Chris P. Rader bought 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.50 per share, for a total transaction of $29,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,053,983. This trade represents a 2.90% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBCP. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Home Bancorp by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,771 shares of the bank's stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Home Bancorp by 80.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,258 shares of the bank's stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 5,476 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Home Bancorp by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,749 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Home Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $612,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Home Bancorp by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,669 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,878 shares in the last quarter. 49.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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