First Trust Advisors LP Has $3.02 Million Stock Holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 53.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,395 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.14% of Hilltop worth $3,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 0.8% during the second 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 period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hilltop by 32.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,247,000 after purchasing an additional 192,991 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 3.7% during 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 last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hilltop by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 711,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,788,000 after purchasing an additional 194,287 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Hilltop by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,623,000 after purchasing an additional 192,439 shares during the period. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.00.

Hilltop Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Hilltop stock opened at $39.40 on Friday. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.25 and a 12-month high of $40.41. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $38.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.61.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its 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. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $315.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. On average, 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 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 is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hilltop news, Director Rhodes R. Bobbitt sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.12, for a total value of $802,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 56,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,250,571.52. This trade represents a 26.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 62,555 shares of company stock worth $2,434,714 in the last three months. 5.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.