Cetera Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 341,220 HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)

Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 341,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,497,000. Cetera Advisors LLC owned 1.08% of HBT Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of HBT Financial by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of HBT Financial by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 2,418 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning acquired a new stake in shares of HBT Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of HBT Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $183,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of HBT Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,010,000. Institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Eric E. Burwell bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.99 per share, for a total transaction of $113,940.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 31,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $604,261.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other HBT Financial news, Director Eric E. Burwell purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.99 per share, with a total value of $113,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $604,261.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 11,555 shares of HBT Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total value of $278,359.95. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 190,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,577,100. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 59.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

HBT Financial stock traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $21.50. 25,553 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,236. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.60 and a 200 day moving average of $19.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.42 and a 12 month high of $24.85. The firm has a market cap of $679.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 0.87.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. HBT Financial had a net margin of 25.61% and a return on equity of 15.76%. The firm had revenue of $72.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 33.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HBT. Piper Sandler increased their price target on HBT Financial from $21.50 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $25.00) on shares of HBT Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James upgraded shares of HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of HBT Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

About HBT Financial

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.