Home BancShares Chairman John Allison: Q&A

TheStreet: During the earnings conference call, you said that Home BancShares had "14 deals on the board." How do you pick them?

Allison: There will be more deals coming in Florida. We have a list that we're watching at all times, and we have narrowed it down to four. We are looking at market transactions.

You just have to figure out which ones make the most sense, which are the best geographical fit, and which have the greatest chance of closing. Does it accrete to income on day one? How much goodwill are we putting on the books? How long does it take to earn it back?

When you buy a bank, and you are paid to buy it, [through FDIC loss-sharing] in a market that makes sense, that has potential, you have to be creating shareholder value.

Home BancShares has seen its stock return 9% year-to-date, through Thursday's close at $28.13, following an 18% return during 2011.

Based on a quarterly payout of 10 cents the shares have a dividend yield of 1.43%. The company repurchased 205,600 shares during the first quarter, and an average price of $25.29.

The shares trade for twice their reported March 31 tangible book value of $13.96, and for 12 times the consensus 2013 earnings estimate of $2.26 a share, among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The consensus 2012 EPS estimate is $2.17.

Interested in more on Home BancShares? See TheStreet Ratings' report card for this stock.

-- Written by Philip van Doorn in Jupiter, Fla.

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Philip W. van Doorn is a member of TheStreet's banking and finance team, commenting on industry and regulatory trends. He previously served as the senior analyst for TheStreet.com Ratings, responsible for assigning financial strength ratings to banks and savings and loan institutions. Mr. van Doorn previously served as a loan operations officer at Riverside National Bank in Fort Pierce, Fla., and as a credit analyst at the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, where he monitored banks in New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico. Mr. van Doorn has additional experience in the mutual fund and computer software industries. He holds a bachelor of science in business administration from Long Island University.

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