Insider Selling: HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Chairman Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT - Get Free Report) Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 10,000 shares of HBT Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.15, for a total transaction of $251,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 22,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $574,048.75. This trade represents a 30.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

HBT Financial Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HBT traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.40. The company had a trading volume of 3,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,305. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. HBT Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $18.00 and a one year high of $26.25. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $23.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $801.47 million, a P/E ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.89.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.99% and a return on equity of 14.57%. Equities research analysts expect that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from HBT Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. HBT Financial's payout ratio is presently 37.17%.

HBT Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 18th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HBT Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HBT Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $930,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of HBT Financial by 70.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 43.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 17,266 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in HBT Financial by 1.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in HBT Financial by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 309,110 shares of the company's stock worth $6,764,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HBT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $24.80.

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.