HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Shares Sold by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,600 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.13% of HBT Financial worth $925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in HBT Financial in the third quarter worth $930,000. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 1,784 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 17,266 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in HBT Financial by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,501,000 after buying an additional 3,874 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in HBT Financial by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 309,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,764,000 after buying an additional 1,989 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on 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, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.80.

HBT Financial Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:HBT opened at $25.00 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.40 and a 200-day moving average of $22.86. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.00 and a 1 year high of $26.25. The stock has a market cap of $788.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.89. 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 (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced 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%. Equities analysts predict that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.17%.

HBT Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 18th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at HBT Financial

In related 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 transaction, the director now owns 182,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,508,140. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.11, for a total value of $60,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 71,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,715,908.70. This represents a 3.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,400 shares of company stock valued at $1,029,775 over the last 90 days. 59.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HBT Financial 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.