HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04, Zacks reports. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.99% and a return on equity of 14.57%.

HBT Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ HBT opened at $22.77 on Friday. HBT Financial has a 12 month low of $17.75 and a 12 month high of $25.35. The stock has a market cap of $718.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $22.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.36. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.63%.

HBT Financial announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 18th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HBT Financial news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.11, for a total transaction of $60,275.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 71,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,715,908.70. This trade represents a 3.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,498 shares of company stock worth $351,985. Company insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.40.

HBT Financial Company 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.