Piper Sandler Lowers HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Price Target to $26.00

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.61% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.80.

HBT Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:HBT traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.30. The company had a trading volume of 4,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,203. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.36. HBT Financial has a 52-week low of $17.75 and a 52-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 company has a market capitalization of $735.19 million, a PE ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.88.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 24.99%. As a group, research analysts expect that HBT Financial will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 18th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at HBT Financial

In related news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 4,798 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $114,768.16. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 86,672 shares in the company, valued at $2,073,194.24. The trade was a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 14,498 shares of company stock worth $351,985 in the last three months. 59.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HBT Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HBT. FMR LLC lifted its stake in HBT Financial by 70.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HBT Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $122,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $251,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 3.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in HBT Financial in the third quarter worth about $295,000. 78.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.