Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Stock Position Raised by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 229,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,685 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Hilltop worth $6,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HTH. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hilltop by 827.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Hilltop by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop during the 4th quarter worth $193,000. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop during the 4th quarter worth $207,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop during the 4th quarter worth $212,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HTH. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Hilltop from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th.

Hilltop Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of HTH stock opened at $30.25 on Wednesday. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.67 and a 1 year high of $35.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $30.29 and its 200-day moving average is $30.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.87.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $318.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.68 million. Hilltop had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 5.79%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 36.55%.

Hilltop 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.