Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

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

Several other research firms have also commented on HOMB. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) Stock Down 2.9 %

HOMB stock opened at $25.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 0.93. Home Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.38 and a 12 month high of $32.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.91. 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. (Conway, AR) (NYSE:HOMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.02). Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) had a net margin of 27.39% and a return on equity of 10.31%. The company 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 posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Home Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

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

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.61%.

Insider Activity at Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

In other news, CEO John W. Allison acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.76 per share, for a total transaction of $307,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 5,693,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,122,278.32. This represents a 0.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR)

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HOMB. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 69,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,979,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 27,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Home Bancshares, Inc. (Conway, AR) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 10,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the period. 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.