GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 141.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 821 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Hilltop were worth $42,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hilltop by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its position in Hilltop by 4.4% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 10,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Hilltop by 18.7% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Hilltop by 2.1% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 24,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Hilltop by 0.8% in the first quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 129,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hilltop Stock Performance

HTH opened at $33.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.17 and a 200 day moving average of $31.10. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.67 and a fifty-two week high of $36.13.

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

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HTH shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a report on Saturday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

Insider Transactions at Hilltop

In related news, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 11,687 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.09, for a total transaction of $363,348.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,408,645.42. The trade was a 9.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jonathan S. Sobel acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $35.36 per share, with a total value of $353,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman directly owned 127,429 shares in the company, valued at $4,505,889.44. This represents a 8.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,022,800. 29.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.