HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Hovde Group

Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $24.50 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on HBT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HBT Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.75.

HBT Financial Price Performance

Shares of HBT opened at $22.92 on Thursday. 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 has a 1-year low of $18.00 and a 1-year high of $26.25. The stock has a market cap of $723.33 million, a PE ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.03.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that HBT Financial will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This is an increase from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.17%.

HBT Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 18th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HBT Financial news, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 182,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,508,140. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 5,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.81, for a total transaction of $125,414.55. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 53,615 shares in the company, valued at $1,330,188.15. The trade was a 8.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,900 shares of company stock worth $969,500. 59.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBT. FMR LLC boosted its position in HBT Financial by 70.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of HBT Financial by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,247,000 after buying an additional 17,266 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of HBT Financial by 1.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in HBT Financial by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in HBT Financial by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 309,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

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.