HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Short Interest Up 11.9% in September

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 71,500 shares, a growth of 11.9% from the September 15th total of 63,900 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 32,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HBT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on HBT Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. DA Davidson cut shares of HBT Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up previously from $25.00) on shares of HBT Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of HBT Financial from $21.50 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, HBT Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.60.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HBT traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.07. 23,507 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,303. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.57. HBT Financial has a 1-year low of $17.69 and a 1-year high of $24.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $728.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.86.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $72.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.82 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 25.61% and a return on equity of 15.53%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HBT Financial will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.63%.

Insider Activity

In other HBT Financial news, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 11,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total value of $278,359.95. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 190,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,577,100. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HBT Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in HBT Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $122,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of HBT Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $183,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in HBT Financial by 109.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 14,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 19.0% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 95,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,949,000 after acquiring an additional 15,242 shares in the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.