Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,227 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Hilltop worth $1,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 70,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 24,591 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Hilltop by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,056,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,991,000 after buying an additional 17,477 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Hilltop by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 199,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,712,000 after acquiring an additional 9,672 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the 4th quarter valued at about $335,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the fourth quarter worth approximately $477,000. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HTH shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Hilltop from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Hilltop from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Hilltop Stock Performance

NYSE:HTH opened at $28.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.52. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.67 and a 52-week high of $35.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 1.00.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.27. Hilltop had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 5.18%. Equities analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 41.38%.

Hilltop Company Profile

Hilltop Holdings Inc provides business and consumer banking services. It operates through three segments: Banking, Broker-Dealer, and Mortgage Origination. The Banking segment offers savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; lines and letters of credit, home improvement and equity loans, loans for purchasing and carrying securities, term, agricultural and commercial real estate, equipment loans, and other lending products; and mortgage, commercial and industrial loans, and term and construction finance.