Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Receives $34.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

Several research firms recently commented on HTH. Zacks Research lowered Hilltop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Hilltop from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th.

Hilltop Price Performance

NYSE:HTH opened at $35.05 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.53. Hilltop has a 1-year low of $26.67 and a 1-year high of $36.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 0.94.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $330.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.68 million. Hilltop had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 7.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Hilltop will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is 28.69%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 37.5% in 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 buying an additional 194,287 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Hilltop during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,260,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Hilltop by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 53,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,788,000 after buying an additional 8,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop during the third quarter valued at approximately $345,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Company Profile

Hilltop Holdings Inc provides business and consumer banking services. It operates through three segments: Banking, Broker-Dealer, and Mortgage Origination. The Banking segment offers savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; lines and letters of credit, home improvement and equity loans, loans for purchasing and carrying securities, term, agricultural and commercial real estate, equipment loans, and other lending products; and mortgage, commercial and industrial loans, and term and construction finance.