HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Short Interest Update

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 73,700 shares, an increase of 16.2% from the October 31st total of 63,400 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 29,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HBT shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. DA Davidson downgraded HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 4,798 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total value of $114,768.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 86,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,073,194.24. This trade represents a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,998 shares of company stock worth $291,710. 59.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HBT. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of HBT Financial by 70.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in HBT Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $122,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $251,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of HBT Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $295,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Price Performance

HBT stock traded up $0.01 on Friday, reaching $23.95. The company had a trading volume of 16,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,361. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.63 and its 200 day moving average is $21.53. The company has a market cap of $755.84 million, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. HBT Financial has a 1 year low of $17.75 and a 1 year high of $25.35.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $56.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.05 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 14.70%. On average, research analysts forecast that HBT Financial will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is currently 34.55%.

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.