HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its position in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 46.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,585 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in HBT Financial were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

HBT Financial Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of HBT stock opened at $23.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $735.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.88. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.36. HBT Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.75 and a twelve month high of $25.35.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This is a positive change from HBT Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is presently 33.63%.

HBT Financial announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 18th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on HBT shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HBT Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HBT Financial news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 4,798 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.92, for a total value of $114,768.16. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 86,672 shares in the company, valued at $2,073,194.24. This trade represents a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,498 shares of company stock valued at $351,985. Insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial 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.