Patrick F. Busch Sells 8,000 Shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Stock

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Director Patrick F. Busch sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.77, for a total value of $198,160.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 182,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,508,140. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

HBT Financial Stock Down 2.5 %

HBT stock opened at $24.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $786.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.89. HBT Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.00 and a fifty-two week high of $26.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.91 and a 200-day moving average of $22.55.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 24.99%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.17%.

HBT Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 18th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HBT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in HBT Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 105,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,307,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares during the period. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new position in HBT Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $438,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in HBT Financial by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co boosted its stake in HBT Financial by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 91,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 5,070 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in HBT Financial by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HBT. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.80.

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.