BUZZ - Home Bancorp shares fall as weak credit causes third quarter profits to miss expectations

October 20 - ** Community lender Home Bancorp (HBCP.O) shares fell 5.4% to $62.25

** On Monday evening, HBCP missed market expectations for third-quarter profit (link) as weak credit weighed on quarterly results

** "A total of 6 loan relationships (totaling $19.5 million) were placed on nonaccrual status, resulting in an increase of loans under watch and nonperforming loans. Based on our current assessment, we do not expect these loan relationships to result in significant losses," said President Darren Guidry

** "Although management indicated that the credit issues identified this quarter are unlikely to result in material losses, we believe investors will question the direction of the bank’s credit quality," Piper Sandler analysts said, referring to the increase in nonperforming loans

** "Given the earnings miss and ongoing deterioration of credit quality, we anticipate the stock could underperform peers at the open," said Feddie Strickland, analyst at Hovde Group

** Out of four brokerages, one rates the stock a “buy” and three rate it “hold”; the median target price is $72.50 — LSEG data

** HBCP shares are up 7.7% so far this year

(To make its reporting more accessible to non-native English speakers, Reuters has automated translations of its stories into multiple other languages. Automated translation may contain errors or not capture the intended context. Reuters does not guarantee the accuracy of this automated translation, which is provided for convenience only. Reuters accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage incurred by using the automated translation function.)