The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stock Holdings in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 2.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 542,490 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,382 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in HBT Financial were worth $11,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HBT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 626,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,930,000 after buying an additional 5,183 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 26,135 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HBT Financial during the first quarter worth $6,497,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in HBT Financial by 5.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 119,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,444,000 after purchasing an additional 5,859 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 1,082.5% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 113,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,324,000 after purchasing an additional 104,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HBT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on HBT Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $25.00) on shares of HBT Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HBT Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at HBT Financial

In other news, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 11,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.09, for a total transaction of $278,359.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 190,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,577,100. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 59.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HBT Financial Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of HBT opened at $20.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $659.94 million, a PE ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.39. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.69 and a 1 year high of $24.85.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. HBT Financial had a net margin of 25.61% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $72.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. Analysts forecast that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.63%.

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.