Shares of HomeTrust Bancshares, Inc. (HTBI) crafted a new 52-week high, touching $16.52 on Dec 29. The stock of this various banking products and services provider closed the session at the same price, reflecting a year-to-date return of 2.5%. The trading volume for the session was 67,438 shares.
Despite hitting its 52-week high, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has plenty of upside left, given strong estimate revisions over the last 60 days and expected year-over-year earnings growth of 4.69%. The company has delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 14.94% in the trailing four quarters.
Growth Drivers
Strong organic growth aiding fiscal first-quarter 2015 results, steady capital deployment activities and the acquisition of branches from Bank of America Corporation (BAC) were the primary growth drivers for HomeTrust Bancshares.
Recently, HomeTrust Bancshares acquired 10 branch banking operations in Southwest Virginia and Eden, North Carolina from BofA. The branches came into operation as HomeTrust Bank branches during November.
In Nov 2014, HomeTrust Bancshares completed its 5% stock repurchase program under which 989,183 shares were purchased at a total cost of about $15.6 million at an average price of $15.76 per share. Further, the company’s board of directors authorized a new common stock repurchase program of around 1.02 million shares, representing 5% of the company's currently outstanding shares.
HomeTrust Bancshares came out with earnings of 12 cents per share on Oct 29, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 20%. However, the reported figure lagged the prior-year quarter earnings by 29.4%.
Results were aided by a 34.1% year-over-year rise in net revenues, partially offset by a 55.5% rise in non-interest expenses. Further, the quarter witnessed an increase in net loans (up 35.7%) along with higher deposits (up 33.5%).
HomeTrust Bancshares 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 2.71% at quarter end, down from 4.95% as of Sep 30, 2013. The improvement was also reflected in provision for loan losses with negative $0.25 million in the reported quarter.
Estimate Revisions Show Potency
Analysts’ bullish stance was reflected in the earnings estimates movement over the last 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2015 has gone up 6.3% to 67 cents per share, while for fiscal 2016, it remained stable at 84 cents per share.
Some Southeast banks worth considering include Bank of the Ozarks, Inc. (OZRK) and Customers Bancorp, Inc. (CUBI), both with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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