HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of HBT Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of HBT Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.75.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

HBT Financial stock opened at $27.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $985.90 million, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. HBT Financial has a 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $29.88.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $67.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.75 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 13.06%. Research analysts expect that HBT Financial will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is 42.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 15,742 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.93, for a total transaction of $455,416.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 45,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,325,427.95. The trade was a 25.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 51.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HBT Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of HBT Financial during the third quarter valued at $32,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 59.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 66.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 906.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 3,827 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HBT Financial during the second quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

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.