Short Interest in HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTBI) Grows By 5.8%

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTBI - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 89,300 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the September 15th total of 84,400 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 45,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Institutional Trading of HomeTrust Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTBI. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in HomeTrust Bancshares by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 22,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 0.6% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 92,272 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,771,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 9.1% during the second quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 17,742 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Salzhauer Michael boosted its holdings in HomeTrust Bancshares by 9.8% in the second quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 25,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 2,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in HomeTrust Bancshares by 8.2% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 42,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTBI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on HomeTrust Bancshares from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Hovde Group began coverage on HomeTrust Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $34.50.

HomeTrust Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTBI traded up $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.92. The stock had a trading volume of 34,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,648. The business's 50-day moving average price is $34.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.58. HomeTrust Bancshares has a 52 week low of $19.37 and a 52 week high of $36.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $609.18 million, a PE ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

HomeTrust Bancshares (NASDAQ:HTBI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73. The company had revenue of $73.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.06 million. HomeTrust Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 19.42%. As a group, equities analysts predict that HomeTrust Bancshares will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

HomeTrust Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. HomeTrust Bancshares's payout ratio is 12.75%.

About HomeTrust Bancshares

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank that provides a range of retail and commercial banking products and services. The company's deposit products include savings, money market, noninterest-bearing, and interest-bearing checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit for individuals, business, and nonprofit organizations.

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