HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTBI) Short Interest Down 12.8% in October

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTBI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 77,900 shares, a drop of 12.8% from the September 30th total of 89,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 44,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 0.5% of the company's shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of HomeTrust Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HTBI. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 2.0% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 22,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $680,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 92,272 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,771,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 9.1% in the second quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 17,742 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Salzhauer Michael raised its holdings in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 9.8% during the second quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 25,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 2,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in HomeTrust Bancshares by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 867,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,719,000 after purchasing an additional 5,364 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James downgraded HomeTrust Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised HomeTrust Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.75.

HomeTrust Bancshares Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTBI traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, hitting $33.10. 28,766 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,924. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $577.43 million, a PE ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 0.81. HomeTrust Bancshares has a 52 week low of $20.22 and a 52 week high of $36.79.

HomeTrust Bancshares (NASDAQ:HTBI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $74.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.13 million. HomeTrust Bancshares had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 11.04%. As a group, research analysts expect that HomeTrust Bancshares will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

HomeTrust Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This is a boost from HomeTrust Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. HomeTrust Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 13.91%.

HomeTrust Bancshares Company Profile

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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