Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 17,604 Shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its position in shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 247,692 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,604 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.78% of HBT Financial worth $5,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in shares of HBT Financial by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in HBT Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in HBT Financial by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in HBT Financial by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 7,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 1,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in HBT Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $242,000. 78.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on HBT. Hovde Group began coverage on HBT Financial in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $24.50 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HBT Financial news, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.15, for a total transaction of $251,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 22,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,048.75. This trade represents a 30.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.77, for a total transaction of $198,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 182,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,508,140. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,900 shares of company stock worth $969,500. Company insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ HBT opened at $23.49 on Tuesday. HBT Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $18.16 and a one year high of $26.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.97 and a 200 day moving average of $23.10. 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 has a market capitalization of $743.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 0.62.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.57 million. HBT Financial had a net margin of 24.99% and a return on equity of 14.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

HBT Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. HBT Financial’s payout ratio is 35.29%.

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.