Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH Shares Sold by Tudor Investment Corp ET AL

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lessened its holdings in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 41.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 98,698 shares during the quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL owned approximately 0.23% of Hilltop worth $4,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTH. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Hilltop by 236.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,044,000 after purchasing an additional 324,108 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Hilltop by 364.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 360,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,943,000 after purchasing an additional 282,852 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in Hilltop by 106.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 493,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,503,000 after purchasing an additional 255,141 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Hilltop during the 3rd quarter worth $8,337,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 194,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 9,025 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.84, for a total transaction of $359,556.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 91,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,657,989.28. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.46, for a total transaction of $999,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,831 shares in the company, valued at $2,531,860.26. The trade was a 28.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 294,796 shares of company stock valued at $11,225,619. 29.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hilltop Stock Performance

HTH stock opened at $37.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.08. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $27.35 and a one year high of $40.41.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $217.40 million for 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This is a boost from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Hilltop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

Hilltop 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.