HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 31,150 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 4% from the previous session’s volume of 29,903 shares.The stock last traded at $29.39 and had previously closed at $29.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HBT shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on HBT Financial from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $27.00 target price on shares of HBT Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HBT Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.50.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.58 and its 200 day moving average is $25.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $912.47 million, a P/E ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 0.58.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.64. The business had revenue of $61.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.00 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 26.20% and a return on equity of 13.69%. Analysts anticipate that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This is an increase from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is 37.70%.

HBT Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 16,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 4,940 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings 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. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 2,669 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in HBT Financial by 3.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 17,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.