HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Price Target Raised to $38.00

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) had its price objective increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $34.00 to $38.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on HBT. Wall Street Zen upgraded HBT Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded HBT Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on HBT Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research cut HBT Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.25.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

Shares of HBT Financial stock opened at $35.86 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39 and a beta of 0.51. HBT Financial has a fifty-two week low of $22.36 and a fifty-two week high of $36.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.05. HBT Financial had a net margin of 23.44% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The company had revenue of $80.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.36 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that HBT Financial will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.92%.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HBT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in HBT Financial by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,995,000 after purchasing an additional 15,350 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of HBT Financial by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 318,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,230,000 after buying an additional 9,874 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of HBT Financial by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 288,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,458,000 after buying an additional 16,641 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 257,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,658,000 after buying an additional 87,085 shares during the period. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 857.6% in the first quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 160,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,288,000 after buying an additional 143,727 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About HBT Financial

HBT Financial, Inc is the bank holding company for HomeTrust Bank, a community-focused financial institution based in Lenoir, North Carolina. Through its subsidiary, HomeTrust Bank, the company provides a full suite of personal and business banking services across western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and Upstate South Carolina. The company’s operations include a network of branch offices, ATMs and online banking platforms designed to serve both urban and rural communities in its primary market areas.

HomeTrust Bank’s product offerings encompass traditional deposit accounts such as checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.