Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 7,539 Shares of HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) by 56.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,999 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,539 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in HBT Financial were worth $460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 2.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of HBT Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $438,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of HBT Financial by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 91,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 5,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted 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 valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Patrick F. Busch sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.77, for a total transaction of $198,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 182,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,508,140. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Fred L. Drake sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.38, for a total value of $243,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 58,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,430,374.60. This represents a 14.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,900 shares of company stock valued at $969,500. Insiders own 59.80% of the company’s stock.

HBT Financial Trading Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ:HBT opened at $22.74 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.01. HBT Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.00 and a 12 month high of $26.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $717.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.81.

HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.62 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%. Equities analysts predict that HBT Financial, Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

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

HBT Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. HBT Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HBT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of HBT Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HBT Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.80.

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.