Short Interest in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Expands By 33.8%

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on HBT. DA Davidson cut shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.40.

Insider Transactions at HBT Financial

In other news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 2,200 shares of HBT Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.86, for a total transaction of $52,492.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 91,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,182,474.20. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,998 shares of company stock worth $291,710. 59.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of HBT Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HBT. FMR LLC increased its stake in HBT Financial by 70.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of HBT Financial during the third quarter valued at about $122,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of HBT Financial during the third quarter valued at about $251,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 3.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of HBT Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $295,000. 78.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HBT Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ HBT traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.45. The stock had a trading volume of 23,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,094. HBT Financial has a twelve month low of $17.75 and a twelve month high of $25.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $23.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.82. The firm has a market cap of $740.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 0.87.

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

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. HBT Financial’s dividend 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.