HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 244,270 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 755% from the previous session’s volume of 28,575 shares.The stock last traded at $26.58 and had previously closed at $27.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HBT. Raymond James Financial upgraded HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

HBT Financial Stock Down 0.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $859.30 million, a PE ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 0.57.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.64. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 26.20%.The company had revenue of $61.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.00 million. Analysts forecast that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.70%.

HBT Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $30.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HBT. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in HBT Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of HBT Financial by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 66.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in HBT Financial by 906.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in HBT Financial during the second quarter valued at $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Company Profile

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.