Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Director Sells $484,000.00 in Stock

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 12,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 76,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,043,840. This represents a 13.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Hilltop Trading Down 0.7%

HTH stock opened at $39.07 on Friday. The company 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 52 week low of $30.34 and a 52 week high of $40.41. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.62.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Hilltop’s payout ratio is currently 29.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HTH. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Hilltop in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Hilltop from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hilltop currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTH. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Hilltop by 41.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 3,192 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hilltop by 623.7% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Hilltop by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 236.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,044,000 after purchasing an additional 324,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

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.