HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Shares Acquired by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 332,753 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,146 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.05% of HBT Financial worth $7,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 70.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,784 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in HBT Financial by 43.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 17,266 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in HBT Financial by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,501,000 after acquiring an additional 3,874 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 309,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989 shares during the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.38, for a total value of $243,800.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 58,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,430,374.60. The trade was a 14.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.77, for a total value of $198,160.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 182,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,508,140. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,900 shares of company stock valued at $969,500 in the last ninety days. 59.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.80.

HBT Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of HBT Financial stock opened at $23.22 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.00. The stock has a market cap of $732.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.81. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.00 and a 12-month high of $26.25.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This is a positive change from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.17%.

About HBT Financial

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.