Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $34.98 and traded as high as $35.98. Hilltop shares last traded at $35.4910, with a volume of 485,112 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Hilltop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.50.

Hilltop Trading Up 2.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.98.

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

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 30.19%.

Insider Transactions at Hilltop

In related news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.46, for a total transaction of $999,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,831 shares in the company, valued at $2,531,860.26. This represents a 28.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 9,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.84, for a total value of $359,556.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 91,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,657,989.28. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 294,796 shares of company stock worth $11,225,619. Company insiders own 29.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hilltop

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Hilltop by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 3,192 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 623.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 79,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 68,648 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Hilltop by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Hilltop by 236.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,044,000 after purchasing an additional 324,108 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Hilltop by 32.0% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

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.