HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $27.93 and last traded at $27.7950, with a volume of 12117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HBT. DA Davidson set a $27.00 price objective on shares of HBT Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective 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 raised HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

HBT Financial Price Performance

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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.29. The company has a market capitalization of $890.91 million, a PE ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.58.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $59.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.31 million. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 26.64%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 18th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HBT Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in HBT Financial by 2.5% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 523,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,198,000 after buying an additional 12,846 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 219,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 29,892 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 113,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,847,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in HBT Financial by 0.4% during the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 99,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,508,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.