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

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 38,507 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 14% from the previous session’s volume of 33,715 shares.The stock last traded at $26.95 and had previously closed at $26.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of HBT Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of HBT Financial from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. DA Davidson set a $27.00 price target on shares of HBT Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HBT Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.50.

HBT Financial Stock Up 2.3%

The firm has a market cap of $867.68 million, a P/E ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $59.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.31 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 13.81%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.87%.

HBT Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 18th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 42.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 189,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,252,000 after acquiring an additional 56,521 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of HBT Financial by 4.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 33,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 1,335 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 1.9% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 113,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,847,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in HBT Financial by 57.7% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 58,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,475,000 after buying an additional 21,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 1.0% during the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 99,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,499,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.