HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Hits New 1-Year High on Strong Earnings

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $34.42 and last traded at $33.97, with a volume of 28166 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.29.

The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $80.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.36 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 13.06%.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is 42.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on HBT. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of HBT Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of HBT Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HBT Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.67.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 36.0% during 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 2.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,995,000 after purchasing an additional 15,350 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in HBT Financial by 17.2% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its holdings in HBT Financial by 857.6% in the first 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Stock Up 3.9%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $30.74 and a 200 day moving average of $28.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.51.

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.