Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,336,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 46,762 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.32% of Hilltop worth $162,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HTH. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Hilltop by 85.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 797,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,846,000 after acquiring an additional 367,564 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Hilltop by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 322,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 173,245 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Hilltop during the fourth quarter worth about $3,978,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Hilltop by 158.9% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 153,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,388,000 after acquiring an additional 94,073 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its holdings in Hilltop by 98.9% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 137,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,930,000 after acquiring an additional 68,276 shares during the period. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hilltop Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of HTH stock opened at $33.0020 on Thursday. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.67 and a 1-year high of $34.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.45.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.16. Hilltop had a return on equity of 6.46% and a net margin of 8.90%.The business had revenue of $303.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is currently 32.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, Chairman Jonathan S. Sobel purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.97 per share, for a total transaction of $319,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman owned 57,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,836,005.13. This represents a 21.08% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 29.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Hilltop from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

About Hilltop

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.