Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $40.41 and last traded at $39.6980, with a volume of 509973 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HTH shares. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Hilltop from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

Hilltop Stock Down 0.8%

The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.03.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.23. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 10.19%.The business had revenue of $217.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,200 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,220. The trade was a 20.20% 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 link. Also, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 9,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.84, for a total transaction of $359,556.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 91,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,657,989.28. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 37,225 shares of company stock worth $1,436,516 over the last 90 days. 29.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hilltop

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTH. IF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hilltop in the 4th quarter valued at $231,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Hilltop by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 80,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after buying an additional 11,597 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Hilltop by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 288,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,783,000 after buying an additional 5,550 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hilltop in the fourth quarter worth about $546,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hilltop by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.