HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

HTB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen raised HomeTrust Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from $46.50 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $47.00.

HomeTrust Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HTB opened at $51.49 on Tuesday. HomeTrust Bancshares has a 1 year low of $37.30 and a 1 year high of $51.90. The company has a market cap of $865.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $48.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

HomeTrust Bancshares (NYSE:HTB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $54.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.22 million. HomeTrust Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.90% and a net margin of 22.50%. On average, research analysts predict that HomeTrust Bancshares will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kristin Y. Powell sold 1,000 shares of HomeTrust Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total value of $46,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 21,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,010,214.10. This trade represents a 4.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hunter Westbrook sold 3,904 shares of HomeTrust Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.17, for a total value of $180,247.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 105,828 shares in the company, valued at $4,886,078.76. This represents a 3.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 61,000 shares of company stock worth $2,794,550 over the last ninety days. 11.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares in the first quarter worth approximately $35,667,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $19,884,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,255,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in HomeTrust Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,926,000. Finally, Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in HomeTrust Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,135,000. 60.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About HomeTrust Bancshares

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank, a regional community bank that provides a range of commercial and consumer banking services. Through its subsidiary bank, the company offers traditional deposit and lending products, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential mortgages, home equity lending, and business loans. HomeTrust also delivers treasury management and payment services for small and midsize businesses, along with digital banking tools to support day-to-day account access and payments.

The company’s product set extends beyond core banking to include wealth management and trust services, commercial real estate financing, and specialized lending for agriculture and construction where relevant to local markets.