Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

HBCP has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James raised shares of Home Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Hovde Group cut Home Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $53.00 to $54.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Home Bancorp Stock Performance

Home Bancorp stock opened at $49.20 on Monday. Home Bancorp has a twelve month low of $33.30 and a twelve month high of $52.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $397.54 million, a P/E ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.69 and its 200 day moving average is $45.95.

Home Bancorp (NASDAQ:HBCP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.07. Home Bancorp had a net margin of 18.27% and a return on equity of 9.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Home Bancorp will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Home Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Home Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 23.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBCP. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in Home Bancorp by 100.7% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 590 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Home Bancorp by 247.9% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,322 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Home Bancorp by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,377 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 1,009 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Home Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $180,000. 49.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Home Bancorp

Home Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Home Bank, National Association that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. It offers deposit products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, money market, savings, NOW, and certificates of deposit accounts.