Insider Selling: HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Chairman Sells $243,800.00 in Stock

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.38, for a total transaction of $243,800.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 58,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,430,374.60. The trade was a 14.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

HBT Financial Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of HBT stock opened at $24.32 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.75 and a 12-month high of $25.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $767.54 million, a P/E ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $22.85 and its 200 day moving average is $22.48.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 24.99%. Research analysts expect that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 an increase from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is currently 33.63%.

HBT Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 18th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HBT Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in HBT Financial by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its position in shares of HBT Financial by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 91,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 5,070 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in HBT Financial by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 8,969 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in HBT Financial by 43.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 17,266 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HBT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HBT Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.80.

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.