Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 49,900 Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 43.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 165,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,900 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Hilltop were worth $5,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HTH. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 16,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 37,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,275,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Trading Down 1.1%

HTH stock opened at $38.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.88. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.20 and a 12 month high of $40.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.20.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.10. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 7.32%. The company had revenue of $300.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on HTH. Zacks Research raised shares of Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $76,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,656. The trade was a 20.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Rhodes R. Bobbitt sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $380,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 87,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,306,608. The trade was a 10.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 32,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,206,000 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.40% 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.