HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.50.

HBT has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler reduced 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. Raymond James Financial upgraded HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $27.00 target price on HBT Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st.

HBT Financial Stock Up 0.9%

HBT opened at $29.03 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.09 and a 200-day moving average of $25.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $912.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 0.58. 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 1-year low of $19.46 and a 1-year high of $29.88.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.64. The firm had revenue of $61.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.00 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 26.20% and a return on equity of 13.69%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that HBT Financial will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This is a positive change 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 share repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HBT. Barclays PLC raised its stake in HBT Financial by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 315.1% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 36,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 27,669 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 49,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 545,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,110,000 after purchasing an additional 22,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC boosted its position in HBT Financial by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 34,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $893,000 after buying an additional 5,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.