Citigroup Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

Citigroup Inc. lowered its holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 48.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 52,863 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.09% of Hilltop worth $1,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTH. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 584.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 583 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hilltop by 392.9% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $218,000. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hilltop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.50.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 9,025 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.84, for a total transaction of $359,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 91,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,657,989.28. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.46, for a total value of $999,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,531,860.26. This trade represents a 28.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 29.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hilltop Stock Performance

NYSE:HTH opened at $36.81 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.95. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.35 and a fifty-two week high of $40.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.92.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.23. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 7.47%. The business had revenue of $217.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.19%.

About Hilltop

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.