HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $26.62, but opened at $27.40. HBT Financial shares last traded at $26.5190, with a volume of 386 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HBT shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial lowered HBT Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. DA Davidson set a $27.00 price objective on HBT Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on HBT Financial from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.50.

HBT Financial Stock Down 0.7%

The stock has a market cap of $830.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $24.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $59.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.31 million. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 26.64%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is 33.87%.

HBT Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 18th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HBT Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in HBT Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $786,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 4.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 33,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 42.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 189,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,252,000 after purchasing an additional 56,521 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in shares of HBT Financial by 9.8% during the first quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 18,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 1,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in HBT Financial by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 278,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,234,000 after acquiring an additional 30,467 shares in the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HBT Financial Company Profile

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.