HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.50.

Several analysts recently weighed in on HBT shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on HBT Financial from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Raymond James Financial raised HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. DA Davidson set a $27.00 target price on shares of HBT Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HBT. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 0.4% in the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 99,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,508,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in HBT Financial by 32.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in HBT Financial by 4.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in HBT Financial by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 17,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of HBT Financial by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HBT Financial Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of HBT opened at $27.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $856.78 million, a P/E ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. HBT Financial has a 52 week low of $19.46 and a 52 week high of $27.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.33.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. HBT Financial had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The firm had revenue of $59.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.31 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that HBT Financial will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.87%.

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.