HomeTrust Bancshares Hits 52-Week High on New Buyback Plan
Shares of HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. HTBI crafted a new 52-week high, touching $20.60 on Dec 29. The stock of this North Carolina-based bank closed the session at $20.55, reflecting a solid year-to-date return of 26.5%. The trading volume for the session was 22,999 shares.
Despite hitting its 52-week high, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has plenty of upside left, given its expected year-over-year earnings growth of 3.23%. The company has delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 2.01% in the trailing four quarters.
Growth Drivers
The recent announcement of a new share buyback program and an improved profitability in fiscal first-quarter 2016 (ending Sep 30, 2015) seem to have acted as the primary growth drivers for HomeTrust Bancshares.
On Dec 15, HomeTrust Bancshares revealed that its board of directors authorized a new share repurchase program of up to 922,855 shares of the company’s common stock. The authorized number of shares represents 5% of the company’s existing outstanding shares. Notably, the latest authorization marked the company’s sixth stock repurchase plan since it went public in July 2012.
For fiscal first-quarter 2016, HomeTrust Bancshares’ adjusted earnings of 17 cents per share increased over 6% year over year. Results were aided by 11.5% year-over-year rise in net revenues, partially offset by a 16.4% rise in non-interest expenses. Further, the quarter recorded growth in net loans and deposits.
HomeTrust Bancshares also remains focused on improving its credit quality and a reduction in non-performing assets bears testimony to that. The ratio of non-performing assets to total assets was 1.16% at quarter end, down from 2.33% as of Sep 30, 2014. Also, there was no provision for loan losses in the quarter.
Estimate Revisions
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2017 remained stable at 64 cents per and 72 cents per share, respectively.
Some better-ranked stocks in the finance space include National Bank Holdings Corp. NBHC, TFS Financial Corp TFSL and Great Western Bancorp. Inc. GWB, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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