HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Board of Directors Initiates Stock Buyback Program

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $30.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on HBT Financial from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Raymond James Financial downgraded HBT Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $27.00 target price on shares of HBT Financial 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.50.

HBT Financial Trading Up 2.3%

NASDAQ HBT traded up $0.61 on Thursday, hitting $27.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 40,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,133. The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.42 and its 200 day moving average is $25.01. The firm has a market cap of $867.15 million, a PE ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 0.60. HBT Financial has a 1-year low of $19.46 and a 1-year high of $27.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $59.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.31 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 13.81%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that HBT Financial will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.87%.

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.