HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 59,764 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 147% from the previous session’s volume of 24,228 shares.The stock last traded at $27.08 and had previously closed at $27.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of HBT Financial from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. DA Davidson set a $27.00 price target on HBT Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.50.

HBT Financial Trading Up 0.8%

The firm has a market cap of $847.98 million, a PE ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.83 and a 200 day moving average of $25.34.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64. HBT Financial had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The business had revenue of $61.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.00 million. Equities analysts anticipate that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 18th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HBT Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HBT. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in HBT Financial by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in HBT Financial by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 2,669 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in HBT Financial by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 3.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 17,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 184.9% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 33,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 21,775 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About HBT Financial

HBT Financial, Inc is the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank, a community-focused financial institution based in Lenoir, North Carolina. Through its subsidiary, HomeTrust Bank, the company provides a full suite of personal and business banking services across western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and Upstate South Carolina. The company’s operations include a network of branch offices, ATMs and online banking platforms designed to serve both urban and rural communities in its primary market areas.

HomeTrust Bank’s product offerings encompass traditional deposit accounts such as checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.