HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Short Interest Update

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 85,100 shares, a decline of 10.1% from the April 15th total of 94,700 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 28,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at HBT Financial

In related news, Director Roger A. Baker purchased 3,632 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.86 per share, with a total value of $68,499.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 559,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,557,903.44. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders acquired 4,932 shares of company stock worth $93,083. Insiders own 59.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of HBT Financial by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,573 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in HBT Financial by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 2,418 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in HBT Financial by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 626,575 shares of the company's stock worth $11,930,000 after acquiring an additional 5,183 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning bought a new stake in shares of HBT Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of HBT Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $183,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.55% of the company's stock.

HBT Financial Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of HBT traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.49. 13,547 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,744. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.45. HBT Financial has a 12-month low of $17.14 and a 12-month high of $21.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $615.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 0.86.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.57. HBT Financial had a net margin of 26.29% and a return on equity of 16.14%. The firm had revenue of $52.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.29 million. Sell-side analysts expect that HBT Financial will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 6th. HBT Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on HBT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James raised shares of HBT Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $23.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on HBT Financial from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

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.