Insider Selling: HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Chairman Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.11, for a total value of $60,275.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 71,170 shares in the company, valued at $1,715,908.70. This trade represents a 3.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

HBT Financial Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of HBT opened at $23.06 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.75 and a 52-week high of $25.35. The company has a market cap of $727.75 million, a PE ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.13 and a 200 day moving average of $21.90.

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

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HBT Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of HBT Financial by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 406,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,298,000 after purchasing an additional 26,135 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in HBT Financial by 0.6% in 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 during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in HBT Financial by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,501,000 after buying an additional 3,874 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in HBT Financial by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 119,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,444,000 after acquiring an additional 5,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 1,082.5% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 113,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 104,184 shares during the period. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HBT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.40.

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.