HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTBI) Short Interest Up 18.6% in January

HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTBI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 43,400 shares, a growth of 18.6% from the January 15th total of 36,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 43,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on HTBI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James lowered shares of HomeTrust Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HomeTrust Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in HomeTrust Bancshares by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,257,000 after acquiring an additional 15,916 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in HomeTrust Bancshares by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 58,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,997,000 after acquiring an additional 14,524 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in HomeTrust Bancshares by 44.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 359,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,239,000 after acquiring an additional 110,180 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in HomeTrust Bancshares by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 159,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,441,000 after acquiring an additional 73,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in HomeTrust Bancshares by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares during the last quarter. 60.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HomeTrust Bancshares Price Performance

HTBI stock opened at $37.23 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.96. HomeTrust Bancshares has a 52-week low of $23.55 and a 52-week high of $38.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $652.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.86. 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 (NASDAQ:HTBI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.08. HomeTrust Bancshares had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 10.43%. Equities research analysts forecast that HomeTrust Bancshares will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HomeTrust Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. HomeTrust Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 15.00%.

HomeTrust Bancshares Company Profile

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.