Banc Funds Co. LLC Has $403,000 Stock Holdings in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)

Banc Funds Co. LLC reduced its holdings in shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 74.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,403 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,141 shares during the quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC’s holdings in HBT Financial were worth $403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. LPL Financial LLC purchased a new position in HBT Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $7,111,000. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 332,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,287,000 after buying an additional 32,146 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 96.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 46,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,010,000 after buying an additional 22,682 shares during the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $438,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 43.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 17,266 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HBT shares. Hovde Group started coverage on HBT Financial in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $24.50 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler reduced 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 report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.75.

HBT Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

HBT stock opened at $21.98 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.30 and a 200-day moving average of $22.98. HBT Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.00 and a fifty-two week high of $26.25. The company has a market capitalization of $693.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. This is an increase from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.17%.

HBT Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at HBT Financial

In related news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.15, for a total transaction of $251,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 22,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,048.75. This represents a 30.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.77, for a total transaction of $198,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 182,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,508,140. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,900 shares of company stock valued at $969,500 over the last three months. Company insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

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.