Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HTH shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Hilltop from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Transactions at Hilltop

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $77,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,220. This trade represents a 20.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 29.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Hilltop during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $363,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Hilltop by 404.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 11,377 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the third quarter worth $1,064,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 364.0% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 360,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,943,000 after buying an additional 282,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the second quarter valued at about $640,000. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Price Performance

Hilltop stock opened at $38.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.18 and a 200-day moving average of $33.73. Hilltop has a one year low of $27.35 and a one year high of $39.12.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $217.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.15 million. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 10.19%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hilltop will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.17%.

Hilltop Company Profile

Hilltop Holdings, Inc (NYSE: HTH) is a Dallas, Texas–based financial holding company offering commercial banking, mortgage lending and capital markets services through its three primary subsidiaries: PlainsCapital Corporation, PrimeLending and HilltopSecurities. PlainsCapital provides deposit, lending and treasury management solutions to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and individuals. PrimeLending specializes in home purchase and refinance loans, serving retail, wholesale and correspondent channels.