Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

Hilltop Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of HTH opened at $36.28 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.87. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.89. Hilltop has a 52-week low of $28.92 and a 52-week high of $40.41.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $300.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.87 million. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 7.32%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hilltop will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilltop

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $76,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,912 shares in the company, valued at $300,656. The trade was a 20.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rhodes R. Bobbitt sold 10,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total transaction of $372,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 117,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,358,846. This trade represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 271,771 shares of company stock worth $10,314,603. 29.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTH. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,192 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 623.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 79,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,425,000 after buying an additional 68,648 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 5.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after buying an additional 1,362 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Hilltop News

Here are the key news stories impacting Hilltop this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple forward earnings estimates for Hilltop, including Q3 2026, Q2 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027, and FY2027, while keeping a Strong-Buy rating. Higher earnings expectations can support the stock by suggesting better future profitability. Hilltop Holdings stock page
• Positive Sentiment: Hilltop recently reported quarterly EPS of $0.64, topping analyst estimates of $0.54, which shows the company has been outperforming expectations on earnings. Hilltop Holdings stock page
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, which may appeal to income-focused investors and support the stock’s valuation. Hilltop Holdings stock page

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.