HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $29.37 and last traded at $29.27, with a volume of 38119 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $28.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HBT. DA Davidson set a $27.00 price objective on HBT Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on HBT Financial from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Raymond James Financial upgraded HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HBT Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.50.

HBT Financial Stock Up 1.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $919.96 million, a PE ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.43.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64. The company had revenue of $61.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.00 million. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 26.20%. As a group, analysts forecast that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This is a positive change from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is presently 34.43%.

HBT Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 15,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,307 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in HBT Financial by 1.0% in the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 99,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in HBT Financial by 32.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in HBT Financial by 57.7% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 58,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 21,410 shares in the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.