State Street Corp Has $5.50 Million Holdings in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)

State Street Corp boosted its position in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 251,438 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 0.80% of HBT Financial worth $5,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in HBT Financial by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 95,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,949,000 after purchasing an additional 15,242 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its position in HBT Financial by 1,082.5% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 113,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,324,000 after buying an additional 104,184 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in HBT Financial by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 119,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,444,000 after acquiring an additional 5,859 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in HBT Financial by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 406,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,298,000 after acquiring an additional 26,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 109.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 14,400 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HBT Financial Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:HBT opened at $21.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. HBT Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $17.75 and a one year high of $25.35. The company has a market cap of $684.20 million, a PE ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.11 and a 200-day moving average of $22.05.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $56.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.05 million. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 24.68%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.55%.

Insider Activity at HBT Financial

In other HBT Financial news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 4,798 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,498 shares of company stock valued at $351,985. 59.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on HBT. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on HBT Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson cut shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock 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 given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.40.

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.