HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 244,270 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 755% from the previous session’s volume of 28,575 shares.The stock last traded at $26.58 and had previously closed at $27.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HBT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.50.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $859.30 million, a P/E ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.84.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64. The business 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 37.70%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 15,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in HBT Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $286,000. CWM LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 58,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 21,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 2,153 shares during the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.