HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) to Buyback $15.00 million in Shares

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 18th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $15.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ HBT opened at $22.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.92. The company has a market cap of $696.82 million, a PE ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 0.87. HBT Financial has a 1-year low of $17.75 and a 1-year high of $25.35.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 24.68%. The firm had revenue of $56.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.05 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HBT Financial will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HBT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson downgraded HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HBT Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HBT Financial news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.11, for a total value of $60,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 71,170 shares in the company, valued at $1,715,908.70. This represents a 3.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,498 shares of company stock worth $351,985. 59.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.