HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $27.00 and last traded at $27.00, with a volume of 500 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. DA Davidson cut shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.40.

HBT Financial Price Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $766.91 million, a PE ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.36.

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

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HBT Financial

In other news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 4,798 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $114,768.16. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 86,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,073,194.24. This trade represents a 5.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 59.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HBT. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 70.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in HBT Financial by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 309,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,764,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,501,000 after acquiring an additional 3,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in HBT Financial by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 626,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,183 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.