Bank of America Corp DE Buys 4,048 Shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)

Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 35.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,615 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,048 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in HBT Financial were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HBT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of HBT Financial by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 461,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,110,000 after buying an additional 29,200 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in HBT Financial by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 332,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,287,000 after purchasing an additional 32,146 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC acquired a new position in HBT Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,111,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in HBT Financial by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 133,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,917,000 after purchasing an additional 13,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in HBT Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 105,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,307,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares during the last quarter. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Hovde Group raised HBT Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.80.

HBT Financial Stock Performance

HBT opened at $24.14 on Friday. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.56 and a 12-month high of $26.25. The stock has a market cap of $760.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.33 and a 200-day moving average of $23.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. HBT Financial had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 24.99%. The company had revenue of $63.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

HBT Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.29%.

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.