Hurricane impact could drive near-term overhang for Home BancShares, Stephens says

Home BancShares

11/10/2024 14:41

** Brokerage Stephens says the impact of Hurricane Helene
and Hurricane Milton could drive a near-term overhang for
regional lender Home BancShares  HOMB.N      
    ** HOMB could face slower loan growth, softer fees and
elevated expenses along with damage to bank's infrastructure -
Stephens 
    ** Bank on Friday said it has set aside additional loan loss
reserves of $16.7 mln in Q3 due to Hurricane Helene which hit
Florida and five other states late Sept.
    ** Due to the widespread devastation of Helene, it will take
time to get clarity from customers on damages incurred, needed
deferrals or potential losses on a little over $1 billion worth
of loans in the path of the storm - HOMB CEO John Allison
    ** Bank will also evaluate the impact of Hurricane Milton,
the fifth-most-intense Atlantic hurricane on record, which made
landfall on Wednesday
        ** Milton could result in substantial increase for
provisions to hurricane-related loan reserves for Q4 - Allison
    ** Stephens maintains "overweight" rating on HOMB, adding
that it would be buyers of any weakness

 (Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)
 ((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))