Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.00.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HTH. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Hilltop in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd.

Hilltop Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:HTH traded up $0.85 on Tuesday, reaching $39.36. The company had a trading volume of 3,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 338,189. Hilltop has a 52-week low of $29.20 and a 52-week high of $40.41. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 0.88.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The firm had revenue of $315.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hilltop will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.63%.

Insider Transactions at Hilltop

In related news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $76,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,656. The trade was a 20.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rhodes R. Bobbitt sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $380,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 87,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,306,608. This represents a 10.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,206,000. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 3,192 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Hilltop by 623.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 79,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after acquiring an additional 68,648 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Hilltop by 5.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 236.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,044,000 after acquiring an additional 324,108 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 32.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,247,000 after acquiring an additional 192,991 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

About Hilltop

Hilltop Holdings, Inc (NYSE: HTH) is a Dallas, Texas–based financial holding company offering commercial banking, mortgage lending and capital markets services through its three primary subsidiaries: PlainsCapital Corporation, PrimeLending and HilltopSecurities. PlainsCapital provides deposit, lending and treasury management solutions to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and individuals. PrimeLending specializes in home purchase and refinance loans, serving retail, wholesale and correspondent channels.