HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04, Zacks reports. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 14.70%.

HBT Financial Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of HBT Financial stock opened at $22.38 on Wednesday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.33. The stock has a market cap of $706.31 million, a P/E ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.88. HBT Financial has a 1-year low of $17.75 and a 1-year high of $25.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HBT Financial news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 4,798 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total transaction of $114,768.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 86,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,073,194.24. This trade represents a 5.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,498 shares of company stock worth $351,985. 59.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HBT Financial declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 18th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.