HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.25.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of HBT Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Zacks Research cut HBT Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on HBT Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th.

HBT Financial Stock Up 0.7%

HBT stock opened at $31.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.54 and a 200-day moving average of $28.10. HBT Financial has a fifty-two week low of $22.36 and a fifty-two week high of $33.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $67.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.75 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 13.06%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HBT Financial will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.20%.

Insider Activity at HBT Financial

In other HBT Financial news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 15,742 shares of HBT Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.93, for a total transaction of $455,416.06. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 45,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,325,427.95. This trade represents a 25.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 51.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HBT. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 3.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 17,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 6.6% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Company Profile

HBT Financial, Inc is the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank, a community-focused financial institution based in Lenoir, North Carolina. Through its subsidiary, HomeTrust Bank, the company provides a full suite of personal and business banking services across western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and Upstate South Carolina. The company’s operations include a network of branch offices, ATMs and online banking platforms designed to serve both urban and rural communities in its primary market areas.

HomeTrust Bank’s product offerings encompass traditional deposit accounts such as checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.