HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) to Buyback $15.00 million in Shares

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

HBT Financial Price Performance

Shares of HBT opened at $22.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $696.82 million, a P/E ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 0.87. HBT Financial has a fifty-two week low of $17.75 and a fifty-two week high of $25.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.92.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $56.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.05 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 14.70%. On average, research analysts forecast that HBT Financial will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HBT shares. DA Davidson cut shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on HBT Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at HBT Financial

In related news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 4,798 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $114,768.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 86,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,073,194.24. The trade was a 5.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 14,498 shares of company stock valued at $351,985 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Company Profile

HBT Financial, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Heartland Bank and Trust Company that provides business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and municipal entities in Central and Northeastern Illinois, and Eastern Iowa. The company's deposits accounts consist of noninterest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposits, health savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts.