Fred Drake Sells 15,742 Shares of HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Stock

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Chairman Fred 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 45,815 shares in the company, 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 at this hyperlink.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HBT opened at $28.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.35 and a 200 day moving average of $26.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.53. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $29.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $67.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.75 million. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 22.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is 42.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HBT Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 257,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,658,000 after purchasing an additional 87,085 shares in the last quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 117.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 92,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,332,000 after buying an additional 50,047 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $725,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in HBT Financial by 315.1% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 36,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 27,669 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in HBT Financial by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 545,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,110,000 after buying an additional 22,048 shares in the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on HBT. Zacks Research raised shares of HBT Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Piper Sandler raised 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. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded HBT Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $30.20.

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.