Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

HTH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research downgraded Hilltop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilltop

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Hilltop by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,466 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Hilltop by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 498,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,657,000 after purchasing an additional 8,343 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Hilltop during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 194,287 shares during the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Shares of Hilltop stock opened at $35.16 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.18. Hilltop has a one year low of $27.35 and a one year high of $36.13. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01 and a beta of 0.91.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.25. Hilltop had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The company had revenue of $330.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hilltop will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.69%.

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.