Rhodes Bobbitt Sells 5,000 Shares of Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Stock

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total value of $194,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,188,870.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Hilltop Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Hilltop stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 186,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 229,112. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.28 and a beta of 0.89. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $30.78 and a one year high of $40.41.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $315.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.18 million. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 7.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 32.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Hilltop from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Hilltop in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.00.

Institutional Trading of Hilltop

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the 2nd quarter worth $256,179,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Hilltop by 3,672.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,174,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,338,000 after acquiring an additional 2,117,126 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 870,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,419,000 after acquiring an additional 7,302 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hilltop by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,247,000 after purchasing an additional 192,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Hilltop by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 762,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,477,000 after purchasing an additional 27,203 shares during the period. 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.