First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Stock Position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH – Get Rating) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 575,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,041 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.89% of Hilltop worth $14,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTH. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 1,330.3% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 29.5% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Hilltop by 16.7% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hilltop in the third quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Hilltop in the second quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilltop

In related news, CEO Jerry Schaffner sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total transaction of $1,333,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 136,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,558,310.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Hill A. Feinberg sold 9,001 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.39, for a total transaction of $291,542.39. Following the transaction, the director now owns 600,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,438,372.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jerry Schaffner sold 40,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.33, for a total value of $1,333,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 136,763 shares in the company, valued at $4,558,310.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 22.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th.

Hilltop Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE HTH opened at $29.97 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.31. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 1.07. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.18 and a 52 week high of $34.87.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $349.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $301.53 million. Hilltop had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 7.95%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This is a boost from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.51%.

Hilltop Profile

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Hilltop Holdings, Inc engages in the provision of business and consumer banking services. It operates through the following segments: Banking, Broker-Dealer and Mortgage Origination. The Banking segment includes business banking, personal banking, wealth and investment management. The Broker-Dealer segment includes the following lines of business: public finance, capital markets, retail, structured finance, clearing services and securities lending.