HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $34.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. HBT Financial traded as high as $32.11 and last traded at $31.28, with a volume of 1113675 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.75.

Several other analysts also recently commented on HBT. DA Davidson raised their target price on HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded HBT Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of HBT Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of HBT Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HBT Financial news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 15,742 shares of HBT Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.93, for a total transaction of $455,416.06. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 45,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,325,427.95. The trade was a 25.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 51.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HBT Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HBT. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 7.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in HBT Financial by 36.0% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 23,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 6,261 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in HBT Financial by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,995,000 after purchasing an additional 15,350 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in HBT Financial by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 28,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 857.6% during the 1st quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 160,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,288,000 after purchasing an additional 143,727 shares during the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HBT Financial Trading Down 0.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.75.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.75 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is presently 42.20%.

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.