Rhodes Bobbitt Sells 12,100 Shares of Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Stock

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 12,100 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 76,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,043,840. This represents a 13.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Hilltop Stock Down 1.0%

HTH opened at $39.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.61. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.25 and a 52 week high of $40.41.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $315.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.18 million. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 10.17%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.51 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HTH shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Hilltop from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTH. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 156.7% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 81,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,772,000 after buying an additional 49,859 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 165,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,920,000 after acquiring an additional 49,900 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Hilltop by 39.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 286,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,247,000 after purchasing an additional 81,448 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Hilltop by 6.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 265,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,518,000 after purchasing an additional 15,503 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the first quarter worth $663,000. 57.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.