Brokerages Set HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Target Price at $29.00

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.00.

HBT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of HBT Financial from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Raymond James Financial upgraded HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised HBT Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HBT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 545,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,110,000 after buying an additional 22,048 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in HBT Financial by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 318,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,230,000 after acquiring an additional 9,874 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in HBT Financial by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 288,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,458,000 after acquiring an additional 16,641 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in HBT Financial by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 257,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,658,000 after acquiring an additional 87,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 15.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 219,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 29,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:HBT opened at $27.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $862.44 million, a PE ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.56. HBT Financial has a 1-year low of $19.46 and a 1-year high of $29.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.64. HBT Financial had a net margin of 26.20% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The firm had revenue of $61.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.00 million. On average, research analysts expect that HBT Financial will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $30.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This is a boost from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is presently 37.70%.

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.