HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTBI) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTBI) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 39,500 shares, a decline of 16.7% from the November 30th total of 47,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 45,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTBI. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 20.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 239,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,199,000 after acquiring an additional 40,201 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HomeTrust Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $711,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 44.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 359,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,239,000 after buying an additional 110,180 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 84.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 159,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,441,000 after buying an additional 73,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of HomeTrust Bancshares by 32.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 58,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,997,000 after buying an additional 14,524 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on HomeTrust Bancshares from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

HomeTrust Bancshares Stock Down 1.5 %

HTBI stock traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.86. 26,127 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,087. The company has a market cap of $593.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.11. HomeTrust Bancshares has a 1-year low of $23.55 and a 1-year high of $38.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.90.

HomeTrust Bancshares (NASDAQ:HTBI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.04). HomeTrust Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.41% and a net margin of 18.53%. The company had revenue of $74.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.13 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that HomeTrust Bancshares will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

HomeTrust Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This is a boost from HomeTrust Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. HomeTrust Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 15.19%.

About HomeTrust Bancshares

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank that provides a range of retail and commercial banking products and services. The company’s deposit products include savings, money market, noninterest-bearing, and interest-bearing checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit for individuals, business, and nonprofit organizations.