Share Repurchase Program Initiated by HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Board of Directors

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HBT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on HBT Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, HBT Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.40.

HBT Financial Stock Down 3.6 %

HBT Financial stock traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $22.24. The stock had a trading volume of 79,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,258. The company has a market cap of $701.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $23.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.90. HBT Financial has a 52 week low of $17.75 and a 52 week high of $25.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $56.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.05 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that HBT Financial will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HBT Financial news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 4,798 shares of HBT Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $114,768.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 86,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,073,194.24. This trade represents a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,498 shares of company stock valued at $351,985. 59.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.