HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Trading 3.9% Higher – Should You Buy?

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) shares traded up 3.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $22.02 and last traded at $21.60. 27,075 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 35,564 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HBT shares. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of HBT Financial in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $24.50 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.75.

HBT Financial Trading Up 2.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $675.05 million, a PE ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its 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%. Analysts expect that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. This is a boost from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is presently 37.17%.

HBT Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 18th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 $4,508,140. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 5,055 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.81, for a total transaction of $125,414.55. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 53,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,330,188.15. This trade represents a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,900 shares of company stock worth $969,500. 59.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBT. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 70.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in HBT Financial by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,501,000 after acquiring an additional 3,874 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of HBT Financial by 43.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 17,266 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 309,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after buying an additional 1,989 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 62.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 8,969 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HBT Financial Company Profile

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.