Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Home Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBCP) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $65.00 and last traded at $64.67, with a volume of 20609 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $62.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HBCP has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Home Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Home Bancorp from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Home Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

Home Bancorp Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $505.37 million, a P/E ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $38.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.73 million. Home Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 22.01%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Home Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Home Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Home Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 21.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Chris P. Rader acquired 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.50 per share, for a total transaction of $29,750.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 17,714 shares in the company, valued at $1,053,983. This trade represents a 2.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HBCP. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Home Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Home Bancorp by 116.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $118,000. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new stake in shares of Home Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Home Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. 49.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Home Bancorp

Home Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for The Home National Bank, a full-service financial institution headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana. The company operates as a regional commercial bank serving individuals, small businesses and municipalities across Louisiana and East Texas. Through its network of branches and digital banking platforms, Home Bancorp offers a range of deposit and lending solutions designed to meet the needs of its local markets.

The company’s core offerings include retail deposit products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as a variety of commercial and consumer lending services.