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

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 98,600 shares, an increase of 33.8% from the November 15th total of 73,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 31,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HBT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HBT Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.89, for a total transaction of $124,450.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 73,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,833,646.30. This represents a 6.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,998 shares of company stock worth $291,710. Insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HBT Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HBT. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in HBT Financial by 3.8% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 70.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 1,784 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of HBT Financial by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 309,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after buying an additional 1,989 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,501,000 after acquiring an additional 3,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $122,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Price Performance

Shares of HBT traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.45. 23,061 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,094. HBT Financial has a one year low of $17.75 and a one year high of $25.35. The firm has a market cap of $740.06 million, a P/E ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.05 and a 200-day moving average of $21.82.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The business had revenue of $56.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.05 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HBT Financial will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is currently 34.55%.

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.