Short Interest in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Expands By 11.9%

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 71,500 shares, an increase of 11.9% from the September 15th total of 63,900 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 32,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

HBT Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HBT traded down $0.15 on Thursday, reaching $22.92. 2,361 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,173. The stock has a market capitalization of $724.07 million, a PE ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.79 and its 200-day moving average is $20.57. HBT Financial has a fifty-two week low of $17.69 and a fifty-two week high of $24.85.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $72.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.82 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 25.61% and a return on equity of 15.53%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that HBT Financial will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HBT Financial news, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 11,555 shares of HBT Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total transaction of $278,359.95. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 190,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,577,100. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 59.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBT. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in HBT Financial by 3.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 626,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,930,000 after acquiring an additional 5,183 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in HBT Financial during the third quarter worth $122,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in HBT Financial by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 119,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,444,000 after purchasing an additional 5,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in HBT Financial in the 1st quarter worth $183,000. 78.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on HBT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $25.00) on shares of HBT Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on HBT Financial from $21.50 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HBT Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.60.

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.