Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Home BancShares has been downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a negative outlook from analysts.
• Despite the downgrade, Piper Sandler has increased its target price for the stock from $34.00 to $35.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Home BancShares reported a 6.5% year-over-year revenue increase, achieving earnings per share of $0.58, matching analyst estimates.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Home BancShares from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Home BancShares from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Home BancShares from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home BancShares presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.20.

Home BancShares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HOMB traded up $0.1090 during trading on Friday, hitting $28.5790. 217,871 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,013,331. The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $28.62 and a 200 day moving average of $28.45. Home BancShares has a 52-week low of $24.22 and a 52-week high of $32.90. 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 (NYSE:HOMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.58. Home BancShares had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 29.58%.The firm had revenue of $271.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Home BancShares will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Home BancShares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Home BancShares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.53%.

Insider Activity

In other Home BancShares news, CEO John Stephen Tipton sold 24,159 shares of Home BancShares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total transaction of $664,855.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 53,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,467,036.16. The trade was a 31.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Home BancShares

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HOMB. Binnacle Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Home BancShares by 76.7% in the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,329 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of Home BancShares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home BancShares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Home BancShares by 60.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Home BancShares by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Home BancShares Company 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.