Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Major Shareholder Gerald Ford Sells 259,771 Shares

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) major shareholder Gerald Ford sold 259,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.98, for a total value of $9,866,102.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,788.66. The trade was a 97.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Hilltop Stock Performance

NYSE HTH traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $36.74. The stock had a trading volume of 373,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 380,608. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.35 and a 52-week high of $40.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.00 and a 200 day moving average of $34.98. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 0.92.

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. The company had revenue of $217.40 million during 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost 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 currently 30.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Hilltop by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 870,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,419,000 after acquiring an additional 7,302 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 32.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,247,000 after buying an additional 192,991 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Hilltop by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 762,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,477,000 after acquiring an additional 27,203 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 37.5% during the third 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. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in Hilltop by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,623,000 after buying an additional 192,439 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered Hilltop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hilltop currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.