Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Makes New Investment in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 98,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,198,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HBT. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of HBT Financial by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of HBT Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $438,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 105,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,307,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 20,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in HBT Financial by 47.7% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group raised HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.80.

HBT Financial Price Performance

HBT stock opened at $23.63 on Friday. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.62 and a 52 week high of $26.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $744.35 million, a P/E ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 0.57.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. HBT Financial had a net margin of 25.88% and a return on equity of 14.13%. The firm had revenue of $63.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Analysts anticipate that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is 35.29%.

HBT Financial 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.