Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,360,000 shares, an increase of 6.6% from the December 31st total of 4,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 986,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HOMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Hovde Group cut their price target on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In other Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) news, Director James Pat Hickman sold 63,997 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.77, for a total transaction of $1,969,187.69. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 175,500 shares in the company, valued at $5,400,135. This represents a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John W. Allison acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.76 per share, with a total value of $307,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 5,693,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,122,278.32. The trade was a 0.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 7.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HOMB. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 186.2% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 41.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:HOMB traded down $0.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $30.86. 806,182 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,175,986. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $29.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Home Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.38 and a 12-month high of $32.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.02). Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 27.39%. The firm had revenue of $258.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $256.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Home Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)'s payout ratio is 38.61%.

About Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

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.