Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Director Sells $802,400.00 in Stock

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.12, for a total value of $802,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 56,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,250,571.52. This represents a 26.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Hilltop Stock Performance

NYSE HTH opened at $39.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.89. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.34 and a fifty-two week high of $40.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.62.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 10.17%.The firm had revenue of $315.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 29.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTH. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $256,179,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Hilltop by 0.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 870,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,419,000 after buying an additional 7,302 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Hilltop by 32.0% during 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 buying an additional 192,991 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 3.7% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 762,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,477,000 after acquiring an additional 27,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 37.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 711,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,788,000 after acquiring an additional 194,287 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hilltop Company Profile

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.