HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on HBT Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded HBT Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded HBT Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.75.

HBT Financial Price Performance

Shares of HBT Financial stock opened at $30.29 on Friday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.49. HBT Financial has a twelve month low of $22.36 and a twelve month high of $30.85. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Insider Activity at HBT Financial

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HBT Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in HBT Financial by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in HBT Financial by 66.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in HBT Financial by 906.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 3,827 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of HBT Financial in the second quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of HBT Financial in the third quarter worth about $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.