HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Hovde Group

Stock analysts at Hovde Group began coverage on shares of HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating and a $24.50 price target on the stock. Hovde Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.79% from the company’s previous close.

HBT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, HBT Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.75.

HBT Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ HBT opened at $22.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. HBT Financial has a 52 week low of $18.00 and a 52 week high of $26.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $717.34 million, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.95 and a 200-day moving average of $23.03.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.99% and a return on equity of 14.57%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HBT Financial will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In other HBT Financial news, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.77, for a total value of $198,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 182,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,508,140. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 10,000 shares of HBT Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.38, for a total value of $243,800.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 58,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,430,374.60. The trade was a 14.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,900 shares of company stock worth $969,500. Corporate insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HBT Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in HBT Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in HBT Financial by 70.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 7,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 1,638 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.