HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.50.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of HBT Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. DA Davidson set a $27.00 target price on shares of HBT Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of HBT Financial from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

HBT stock opened at $26.04 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. HBT Financial has a 12-month low of $19.46 and a 12-month high of $27.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $818.44 million, a PE ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.60.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 26.64%.The firm had revenue of $59.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that HBT Financial will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 18th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 33.87%.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of HBT Financial by 162.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 107,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,698,000 after acquiring an additional 66,161 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 42.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 189,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,252,000 after purchasing an additional 56,521 shares during the period. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 117.8% during the third quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 92,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,332,000 after purchasing an additional 50,047 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in HBT Financial in the first quarter worth about $786,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 12.3% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 278,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,234,000 after buying an additional 30,467 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.