Heartland Bank & Trust Co Increases Position in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its holdings in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,770 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,070 shares during the quarter. HBT Financial accounts for about 1.1% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Heartland Bank & Trust Co owned 0.29% of HBT Financial worth $2,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HBT Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $930,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 70.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 406,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,298,000 after purchasing an additional 26,135 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in HBT Financial by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 17,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of HBT Financial by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,501,000 after buying an additional 3,874 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ HBT opened at $23.32 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $735.98 million, a PE ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.88. HBT Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.75 and a twelve month high of $25.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.99% and a return on equity of 14.57%. Equities analysts anticipate that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.63%.

HBT Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HBT. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HBT Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.80.

Insider Activity at HBT Financial

In other news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.86, for a total transaction of $52,492.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 91,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,182,474.20. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 14,498 shares of company stock worth $351,985 in the last three months. 59.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

HBT Financial 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.