HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Short Interest Up 33.8% in November

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 98,600 shares, an increase of 33.8% from the November 15th total of 73,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 31,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at HBT Financial

In other news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 4,798 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total value of $114,768.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 86,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,073,194.24. The trade was a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 11,998 shares of company stock valued at $291,710 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in HBT Financial by 70.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $122,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in HBT Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $251,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in HBT Financial in the third quarter valued at about $295,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in HBT Financial by 3.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HBT Financial Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ HBT traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.45. 14,987 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,094. HBT Financial has a 12 month low of $17.75 and a 12 month high of $25.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.78. The company has a market capitalization of $740.06 million, a P/E ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.87. 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 results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $56.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.05 million. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 24.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HBT Financial will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HBT. DA Davidson cut shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on HBT Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.40.

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.