Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Hovde Group reduced their target price on 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) stock opened at $26.40 on Friday. Home Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.42 and a fifty-two week high of $32.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.06 and a 200 day moving average of $28.77.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $260.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.20 million. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 27.39%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Home Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)’s payout ratio is currently 38.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John W. Allison purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.76 per share, with a total value of $307,600.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 5,693,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,122,278.32. This trade represents a 0.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HOMB. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 5,417 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 5.7% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 519.7% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 6,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 5,867 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 422,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,458,000 after buying an additional 166,927 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in the 3rd quarter valued at about $254,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

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.