Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 target price (up from $34.00) on shares of Home BancShares in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Home BancShares in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Home BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Home BancShares in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home BancShares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.60.

Home BancShares Stock Performance

Shares of HOMB opened at $28.52 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.17 and a 200-day moving average of $28.37. Home BancShares has a one year low of $24.22 and a one year high of $31.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Home BancShares (NYSE:HOMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.60. Home BancShares had a net margin of 32.18% and a return on equity of 11.16%. The business had revenue of $282.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.48 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Home BancShares’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Home BancShares will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home BancShares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Home BancShares during the 2nd quarter valued at $64,545,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Home BancShares by 52.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,230,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,111,000 after purchasing an additional 767,844 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Home BancShares by 14.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,876,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,772,000 after purchasing an additional 626,655 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Home BancShares by 82.9% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,120,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,716,000 after purchasing an additional 508,127 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Home BancShares during the second quarter worth about $12,931,000. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

About Home BancShares

Home BancShares, Inc is a bank holding company based in Conway, Arkansas, operating through its primary subsidiary, Home Bank, National Association. Founded in March 1999, the company provides a comprehensive suite of banking services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, and public entities. These services encompass deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, treasury management, and wealth management solutions.

The company’s core products include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts, as well as a variety of loan offerings such as commercial real estate financing, equipment loans, agricultural lending, and residential mortgages.