Only Four Days Left To Cash In On HBT Financial's (NASDAQ:HBT) Dividend

HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBT) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 4 days. You can purchase shares before the 5th of February in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 16th of February.

HBT Financial's next dividend payment will be US$0.15 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.60 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that HBT Financial has a trailing yield of 4.0% on the current share price of $14.93. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

Check out our latest analysis for HBT Financial

Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. HBT Financial paid out a comfortable 45% of its profit last year.

When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the % of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. With that in mind, we're discomforted by HBT Financial's 16% per annum decline in earnings in the past five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.

HBT Financial also issued more than 5% of its market cap in new stock during the past year, which we feel is likely to hurt its dividend prospects in the long run. Trying to grow the dividend while issuing large amounts of new shares reminds us of the ancient Greek tale of Sisyphus - perpetually pushing a boulder uphill.

Given that HBT Financial has only been paying a dividend for a year, there's not much of a past history to draw insight from.

Final Takeaway

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid HBT Financial? HBT Financial's earnings per share are down over the past five years, although it has the cushion of a low payout ratio, which would suggest a cut to the dividend is relatively unlikely. In sum this is a middling combination, and we find it hard to get excited about the company from a dividend perspective.

However if you're still interested in HBT Financial as a potential investment, you should definitely consider some of the risks involved with HBT Financial. For example - HBT Financial has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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