Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Receives $37.50 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the four analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.50.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hilltop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In related news, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 9,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Gerald J. Ford sold 259,771 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 7,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,788.66. This represents a 97.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 294,796 shares of company stock worth $11,225,619 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 29.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Hilltop during the 4th quarter worth approximately $304,000. Lexington Hill Partners LLC bought a new position in Hilltop in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Hilltop by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 97,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after buying an additional 4,924 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 250,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,493,000 after buying an additional 12,100 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,660,000. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:HTH opened at $36.03 on Thursday. Hilltop has a 12-month low of $27.35 and a 12-month high of $40.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.01.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.23. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 10.19%.The business had revenue of $217.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hilltop will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.19%.

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.