HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.75.

HBT has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Hovde Group started coverage on HBT Financial in a research note on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $24.50 target price on the stock.

HBT Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:HBT traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $22.70. The company had a trading volume of 2,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,988. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. HBT Financial has a 52 week low of $18.00 and a 52 week high of $26.25. The company has a market capitalization of $716.23 million, a PE ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.03.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 24.99%. On average, equities research analysts predict that HBT Financial will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. This is a positive change from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is 37.17%.

HBT Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 18th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at HBT Financial

In other HBT Financial news, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.77, for a total value of $198,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 182,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,508,140. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.38, for a total value of $243,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 58,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,430,374.60. The trade was a 14.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,900 shares of company stock worth $969,500 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of HBT Financial in the third quarter worth $295,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in HBT Financial by 70.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 29,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of HBT Financial by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,501,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 43.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 17,266 shares during the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About HBT Financial

HBT Financial, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Heartland Bank and Trust Company that provides business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and municipal entities in Central and Northeastern Illinois, and Eastern Iowa. The company's deposits accounts consist of noninterest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposits, health savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts.