HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Short Interest Update

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 73,700 shares, an increase of 16.2% from the October 31st total of 63,400 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 29,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity at HBT Financial

In other news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.89, for a total transaction of $124,450.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 73,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,833,646.30. The trade was a 6.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 11,998 shares of company stock worth $291,710 in the last ninety days. 59.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HBT Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $11,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,183 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in HBT Financial by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 406,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,298,000 after buying an additional 26,135 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HBT Financial during the first quarter worth about $6,497,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 309,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,764,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,501,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of HBT Financial stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.86. 21,735 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,704. The firm has a market capitalization of $753.02 million, a P/E ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $22.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. HBT Financial has a 1-year low of $17.75 and a 1-year high of $25.35.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $56.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.05 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 14.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that HBT Financial will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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