HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on HBT Financial, with three buy ratings and three holds. The average 12-month price target is $33.25, below the stock’s reported $35.79 opening price.
• HBT Financial exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.78 earnings per share versus the $0.73 consensus and revenue of $80.90 million versus $80.36 million expected.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share, equivalent to a $1.00 annualized payout and a 2.8% yield; institutional investors own 78.55% of the stock.

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.25.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HBT. Zacks Research cut HBT Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded HBT Financial from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised their price target on HBT Financial from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HBT Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in HBT Financial by 17.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 15,554 shares of the company's stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of HBT Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of HBT Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 6.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 20,301 shares of the company's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of HBT Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $297,000. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HBT Financial Trading Down 0.1%

HBT opened at $35.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.51. HBT Financial has a 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $36.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.53 and a 200 day moving average of $29.00.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $80.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $80.36 million. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 23.44%. As a group, research analysts forecast that HBT Financial will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from HBT Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. HBT Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.48%.

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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