Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 169,529 Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,846,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 169,529 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of Hilltop worth $164,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HTH. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hilltop by 584.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Hilltop in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Hilltop by 42.7% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 392.9% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,000 after acquiring an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Hilltop during the third quarter valued at $218,000. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Gerald J. Ford sold 259,771 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.98, for a total transaction of $9,866,102.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,788.66. This trade represents a 97.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $76,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 29.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hilltop from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Zacks Research raised shares of Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hilltop presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

Hilltop Stock Performance

HTH stock opened at $37.77 on Monday. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.92 and a 52-week high of $40.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 0.89.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 7.32%. The business had revenue of $300.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.30%.

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.