Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens raised their target price on Hilltop from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hilltop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Hilltop Stock Performance

HTH opened at $34.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.46. Hilltop has a twelve month low of $26.67 and a twelve month high of $36.13.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $330.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.68 million. Hilltop had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 7.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hilltop will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $77,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,220. This trade represents a 20.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 29.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTH. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 10,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 41.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 6.1% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 11,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Hilltop by 4.3% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 18,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 761 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.