HBT Financial, Inc. $HBT Holdings Raised by Heartland Bank & Trust Co

Key Points

• Heartland Bank & Trust Co dramatically boosted its HBT Financial stake by 857.6% in Q1, adding 143,727 shares and bringing its holdings to 160,487 shares worth about $4.29 million.
• HBT Financial saw a mix of insider selling and analyst action: Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 15,742 shares, while analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with a $31.25 price target.
• The company continues to show solid operating results, with Q1 earnings of $0.68 per share beating estimates and revenue of $67.84 million topping expectations; it also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, yielding about 2.8%.

Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT - Free Report) by 857.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,487 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 143,727 shares during the quarter. HBT Financial makes up 1.0% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Heartland Bank & Trust Co owned about 0.44% of HBT Financial worth $4,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HBT. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in HBT Financial by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 1,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position 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 worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,827 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 15,742 shares of HBT Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.93, for a total transaction of $455,416.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 45,815 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,325,427.95. This trade represents a 25.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 51.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on HBT. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of HBT Financial from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of HBT Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on HBT Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson raised their target price on HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded HBT Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.25.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

HBT stock opened at $32.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.35. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.36 and a 52 week high of $33.69. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $67.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.75 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 13.06%. Research analysts anticipate that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. HBT Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.20%.

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.

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