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

Shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.75.

HBT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of HBT Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of HBT Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of HBT Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HBT opened at $28.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.53. HBT Financial has a fifty-two week low of $22.36 and a fifty-two week high of $29.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.67.

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

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. 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 on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.93, for a total value of $455,416.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 45,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,325,427.95. This represents a 25.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 51.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HBT Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HBT. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of HBT Financial in the third quarter worth $32,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 66.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 906.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in HBT Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new stake in HBT Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

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.