JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $513,000 Position in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 62.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,427 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,969 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.07% of HBT Financial worth $513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 6.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 406,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,298,000 after purchasing an additional 26,135 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in HBT Financial by 109.9% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 14,400 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in HBT Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $122,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 93.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 46,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 22,618 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.86, for a total transaction of $52,492.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 91,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,182,474.20. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 14,498 shares of company stock worth $351,985 over the last three months. Insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HBT Financial stock opened at $24.09 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.75 and a 12 month high of $25.35. The company has a market capitalization of $760.28 million, a PE ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 0.88.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.99% and a return on equity of 14.57%. On average, research analysts predict that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on HBT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.80.

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.