HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $21.09, but opened at $21.52. HBT Financial shares last traded at $21.52, with a volume of 668 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $21.50 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up previously from $25.00) on shares of HBT Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. DA Davidson lowered shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of HBT Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HBT Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.60.

HBT Financial Trading Up 4.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $694.64 million, a P/E ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.67 and its 200-day moving average is $20.50.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.01. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 25.61%. The company had revenue of $72.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.78%.

Insider Transactions at HBT Financial

In related news, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 11,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total value of $278,359.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 190,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,577,100. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 59.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HBT. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in HBT Financial during the third quarter worth about $122,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in HBT Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $183,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position 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 period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in HBT Financial by 109.9% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 14,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 19.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 95,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,949,000 after acquiring an additional 15,242 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HBT Financial Company 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.