Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) CEO Sells $359,556.00 in Stock

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) CEO Steve Thompson sold 9,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.84, for a total transaction of $359,556.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 91,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,657,989.28. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HTH opened at $39.14 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 0.94. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.35 and a 52-week high of $40.41.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 11,377 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,064,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Hilltop by 364.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Hilltop during the second quarter worth $4,079,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in Hilltop in the second quarter valued at $640,000. 57.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HTH shares. Stephens upped their price objective on Hilltop from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hilltop presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

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.