HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.40.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of HBT Financial in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of HBT Financial from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of HBT Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th.

HBT Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HBT opened at $35.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.42. HBT Financial has a fifty-two week low of $22.36 and a fifty-two week high of $37.51.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.05. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 13.46% and a net margin of 23.44%.The firm had revenue of $80.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.36 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that HBT Financial will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HBT Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HBT. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,136 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 16.6% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 25,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,640 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 17.2% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 28,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of HBT Financial during the second quarter worth $147,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Company Profile

HBT Financial, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois. Through its principal subsidiary, Heartland Bank and Trust Company, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and agricultural customers.

Heartland Bank offers deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, commercial lending, agricultural financing and treasury management services. Its other services include wealth management, trust and investment services, online and mobile banking, and insurance-related products.

The company serves communities primarily across central, eastern and western Illinois through a network of banking locations and digital channels.