State Street Corp Boosts Position in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)

State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 251,438 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,874 shares during the period. State Street Corp’s holdings in HBT Financial were worth $5,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew 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 buying an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in HBT Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $122,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of HBT Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $251,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $295,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in HBT Financial by 3.8% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at HBT Financial

In other HBT Financial news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 91,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,182,474.20. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,498 shares of company stock valued at $351,985. Corporate insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ HBT opened at $21.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $684.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $23.11 and its 200 day moving average is $22.05. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.75 and a 52 week high of $25.35.

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

HBT Financial announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is 34.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HBT shares. 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.40.

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.