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

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.75.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. DA Davidson increased their target price on HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded HBT Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings downgraded HBT Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut HBT Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HBT Financial stock opened at $30.29 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. HBT Financial has a one year low of $22.36 and a one year high of $30.85. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.53.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $67.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.75 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HBT Financial will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 42.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HBT Financial news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 15,742 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 45,815 shares in the company, valued at $1,325,427.95. This represents a 25.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 51.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 66.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 906.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the second quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HBT Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at 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.