HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $30.85 and last traded at $30.81, with a volume of 28647 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HBT has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on HBT Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings cut HBT Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research downgraded HBT Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised HBT Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, HBT Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.75.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 0.53.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $67.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.75 million. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 13.06% and a net margin of 22.72%. On average, research analysts expect that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 15,742 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.93, for a total transaction of $455,416.06. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 45,815 shares in the company, valued at $1,325,427.95. This trade represents a 25.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 51.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HBT Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of HBT Financial by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of HBT Financial by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of HBT Financial by 906.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in HBT Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new stake in HBT Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $224,000. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About HBT Financial

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.