HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HBT. Raymond James Financial upgraded HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on HBT Financial from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded HBT Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd.

HBT Financial Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of HBT Financial stock opened at $27.60 on Wednesday. HBT Financial has a 52 week low of $20.46 and a 52 week high of $29.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $867.52 million, a PE ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.56.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 26.20%.The company had revenue of $61.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.00 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that HBT Financial will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 37.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HBT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 545,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,110,000 after acquiring an additional 22,048 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 318,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,230,000 after acquiring an additional 9,874 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 288,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,000 after acquiring an additional 16,641 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 257,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,658,000 after acquiring an additional 87,085 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 15.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 219,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 29,892 shares during the period. 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.