HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Chairman Sells $150,625.65 in Stock

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 5,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.77, for a total value of $150,625.65. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 37,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $974,750.25. This trade represents a 13.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

HBT Financial Trading Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ:HBT opened at $24.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.54. HBT Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.00 and a fifty-two week high of $26.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $774.17 million, a PE ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 0.89.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.99% and a return on equity of 14.57%. Sell-side analysts expect that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.17%.

HBT Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 18th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in HBT Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of HBT Financial by 93.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 46,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 22,618 shares in the last quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in HBT Financial during the third quarter worth $930,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in HBT Financial in the third quarter valued at $251,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in HBT Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $295,000. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HBT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.80.

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.