HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTBI) Short Interest Up 18.6% in January

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTBI) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 43,400 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the January 15th total of 36,600 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 43,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days.

HomeTrust Bancshares Price Performance

HomeTrust Bancshares stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.23. 18,989 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,183. The stock has a market capitalization of $652.64 million, a P/E ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.11. HomeTrust Bancshares has a 12 month low of $23.55 and a 12 month high of $38.99.

HomeTrust Bancshares (NASDAQ:HTBI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.08. HomeTrust Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 18.57%. Equities research analysts expect that HomeTrust Bancshares will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HomeTrust Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. HomeTrust Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on HTBI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on HomeTrust Bancshares from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James lowered shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HomeTrust Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTBI. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares during the second quarter worth approximately $201,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in HomeTrust Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $326,000. Creative Planning bought a new position in HomeTrust Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $266,000. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $911,000. Finally, Princeton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares during the third quarter worth $222,000. Institutional investors own 60.94% of the company’s stock.

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.