HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Reaches New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• HBT Financial reached a new 52-week high of $27.02, with its last trading price at $26.37, experiencing a slight decline of 1.9% recently.
• Several analysts have upgraded HBT Financial, with a consensus target price of $28.80, indicating a generally positive outlook from the investment community.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with an annual yield of 3.2%, reflecting its strong cash flow and commitment to returning value to shareholders.

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $27.02 and last traded at $26.37, with a volume of 19687 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $26.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HBT shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of HBT Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of HBT Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.80.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $828.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 26.22%.The firm had revenue of $58.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. HBT Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HBT Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HBT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in HBT Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 461,630 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,110,000 after purchasing an additional 29,200 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in HBT Financial by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 359,922 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,066,000 after buying an additional 27,169 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in HBT Financial by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 278,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,234,000 after acquiring an additional 30,467 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in HBT Financial by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 219,619 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 29,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in HBT Financial by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 113,115 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,847,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153 shares during the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HBT Financial Company Profile

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.