Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Director Rhodes Bobbitt Sells 10,000 Shares

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 10,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.50, for a total transaction of $395,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 45,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,802,819.50. This trade represents a 17.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Hilltop stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $39.42. 189,503 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 244,518. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.78 and a 52-week high of $40.41. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $38.73 and its 200 day moving average is $37.76.

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

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 32.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research raised Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Hilltop from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings cut Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.00.

Institutional Trading of Hilltop

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 156.7% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 81,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,772,000 after buying an additional 49,859 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Hilltop by 39.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 286,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,247,000 after acquiring an additional 81,448 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hilltop by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 165,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,920,000 after acquiring an additional 49,900 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Hilltop by 53.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 84,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,020,000 after acquiring an additional 29,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Hilltop by 6.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 265,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,518,000 after acquiring an additional 15,503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

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.