Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.20 Per Share

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 29th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of 0.20 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 27th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is a 11.1% increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18.

Hilltop has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 8 years. Hilltop has a payout ratio of 39.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Hilltop to earn $1.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.5%.

Hilltop Trading Up 3.2%

NYSE HTH traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 92,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,304. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.54. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.91. Hilltop has a 52 week low of $27.35 and a 52 week high of $38.74.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.23. Hilltop had a net margin of 9.86% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The firm had revenue of $217.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hilltop will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Hilltop news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $77,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $304,220. The trade was a 20.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 29.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Hilltop by 41.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 3,192 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Hilltop by 623.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 79,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,425,000 after buying an additional 68,648 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 5.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Hilltop by 236.4% in 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 period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 32.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.13% 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.