Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Hilltop’s FY2025 earnings at $2.01 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.31 EPS and Q2 2027 earnings at $0.40 EPS.

HTH has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Hilltop Price Performance

NYSE HTH opened at $31.79 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.22. Hilltop has a 1-year low of $26.67 and a 1-year high of $36.13.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released 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 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 last year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hilltop will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, Chairman Jonathan S. Sobel bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $35.36 per share, with a total value of $353,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman directly owned 127,429 shares in the company, valued at $4,505,889.44. The trade was a 8.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 6,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.68, for a total value of $216,995.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,365,974.64. This trade represents a 6.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,022,800. 29.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTH. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 236.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,044,000 after buying an additional 324,108 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 364.0% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 360,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,943,000 after purchasing an additional 282,852 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 32.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,247,000 after purchasing an additional 192,991 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 211.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 247,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,518,000 after purchasing an additional 168,071 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 38.6% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 546,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,653,000 after purchasing an additional 152,358 shares during the period. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.