Home Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:HOMB) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. HOMB has experienced an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately. There were 6 hedge funds in our database with HOMB holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In the financial world, there are a multitude of methods market participants can use to analyze publicly traded companies. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can outpace the market by a significant margin (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of reasons for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a peek at the key action encompassing Home Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:HOMB).
What have hedge funds been doing with Home Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:HOMB)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 33% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management had the biggest position in Home Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:HOMB), worth close to $2.9 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. On AQR Capital Management’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $1.9 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that are bullish include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Mike Vranos’s Ellington and Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp.
Now, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, created the biggest position in Home Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:HOMB). Millennium Management had 1.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also made a $0.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
Insider trading activity in Home Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:HOMB)
Bullish insider trading is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, Home Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:HOMB) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 11 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Home Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:HOMB). These stocks are First Connecticut Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:FBNK), TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE:TCB), State Bank Financial Corp (NASDAQ:STBZ), Oriental Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:OFG), and National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG). This group of stocks belong to the money center banks industry and their market caps are closest to HOMB’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| First Connecticut Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:FBNK) | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| TCF Financial Corporation (NYSE:TCB) | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| State Bank Financial Corp (NASDAQ:STBZ) | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Oriental Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:OFG) | 11 | 7 | 0 |
| National Bank of Greece (ADR) (NYSE:NBG) | 3 | 0 | 0 |
With the returns exhibited by our time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Home Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:HOMB) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
