Wall Street Zen Downgrades Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) to Sell

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note 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. Stephens increased their target price on Hilltop from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

Hilltop Price Performance

Hilltop stock opened at $38.75 on Friday. Hilltop has a 12 month low of $27.35 and a 12 month high of $40.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.48. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 0.94.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $217.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.15 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hilltop will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,531,860.26. The trade was a 28.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 9,025 shares of Hilltop 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 91,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,657,989.28. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 37,225 shares of company stock valued at $1,436,516 over the last 90 days. 29.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 236.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,044,000 after buying an additional 324,108 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 364.0% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 360,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,943,000 after acquiring an additional 282,852 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 106.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 493,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,503,000 after acquiring an additional 255,141 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,337,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hilltop by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 711,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,788,000 after purchasing an additional 194,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

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.