Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH Shares Purchased by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 156.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,859 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Hilltop were worth $2,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Hilltop by 236.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,044,000 after buying an additional 324,108 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in Hilltop by 106.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 493,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,503,000 after buying an additional 255,141 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Hilltop during the third quarter worth $8,337,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hilltop by 37.5% during the third 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. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hilltop by 32.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,247,000 after buying an additional 192,991 shares during the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research raised Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hilltop presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Gerald J. Ford sold 259,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.98, for a total value of $9,866,102.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,788.66. This trade represents a 97.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $76,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,656. This represents a 20.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 271,771 shares of company stock valued at $10,314,603 in the last three months. 29.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hilltop Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE HTH opened at $37.23 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.89. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.92 and a 52-week high of $40.41. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $36.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.05.

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 return on equity of 7.32% and a net margin of 10.13%.The company had revenue of $300.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $304.87 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

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

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.