HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 51,956 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 60% from the previous session’s volume of 32,421 shares.The stock last traded at $23.9540 and had previously closed at $23.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HBT shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of HBT Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of HBT Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $27.00 price target on shares of HBT Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HBT Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.50.

HBT Financial Trading Up 1.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $748.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.61 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.84.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $59.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is currently 33.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 120.1% during the first quarter. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 93,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,096,000 after buying an additional 51,036 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 8.2% during the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 359,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,066,000 after buying an additional 27,169 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 8.7% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 22,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 1,818 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the first quarter worth $786,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 4.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 33,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 1,335 shares during the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.