Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares gapped down before the open, opening at $26.70 versus the prior close of $27.67 and trading down about 1.9% (last $27.28) on volume of 124,118 shares.
• Analysts hold a consensus "Hold" rating with an average price target of $32.40, based on three Buy and four Hold recommendations.
• Q1 EPS matched estimates at $0.60 while revenue missed ($266.7M vs. $274.1M); the stock trades at a P/E of 11.26 and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.21 (annualized yield ~3.1%, payout ratio ~34.9%).

Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE:HOMB - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $27.67, but opened at $26.70. Home BancShares shares last traded at $27.2830, with a volume of 124,118 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on HOMB. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Home BancShares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Home BancShares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $31.00 price target on shares of Home BancShares in a report on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Home BancShares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Home BancShares from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Home BancShares currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.40.

Home BancShares Trading Down 1.9%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.75.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.60. Home BancShares had a return on equity of 11.16% and a net margin of 32.18%.The firm had revenue of $266.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Home BancShares, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home BancShares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Home BancShares's payout ratio is presently 34.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Allison II sold 5,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 651,995 shares in the company, valued at $18,379,739.05. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Donna Townsell sold 5,563 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.38, for a total value of $157,877.94. Following the sale, the director owned 218,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,199,894.80. The trade was a 2.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 6.39% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HOMB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Home BancShares in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,673,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Home BancShares by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,060,888 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $85,031,000 after buying an additional 830,823 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Home BancShares by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,423,768 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $567,372,000 after buying an additional 621,751 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Home BancShares by 82.9% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,120,706 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,716,000 after buying an additional 508,127 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home BancShares during the second quarter worth about $12,931,000. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Home BancShares

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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