Freestone Grove Partners LP Buys Shares of 246,843 Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 246,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,573,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned 0.43% of Hilltop as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Hilltop in the second quarter worth about $256,179,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 0.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 870,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,419,000 after purchasing an additional 7,302 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 32.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 192,991 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hilltop by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 762,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,477,000 after purchasing an additional 27,203 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 194,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Shares of HTH stock opened at $38.51 on Friday. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.78 and a 1 year high of $40.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 0.89.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 10.17%.The company had revenue of $315.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Hilltop’s payout ratio is currently 32.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Hilltop from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hilltop currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hilltop news, Director Rhodes R. Bobbitt sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.12, for a total transaction of $802,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 56,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,250,571.52. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,555 shares of company stock worth $2,467,714. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.