Martin Bradley Winges Sells 26,000 Shares of Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Stock

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 26,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.46, for a total value of $999,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,531,860.26. This trade represents a 28.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Hilltop Trading Up 1.5%

HTH stock traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.19. 538,273 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 349,047. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.73. The company has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 0.94. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $27.35 and a one year high of $39.78.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.23. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 7.47%. The company had revenue of $217.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTH. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop in the 4th quarter valued at about $400,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hilltop in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the 4th quarter valued at $115,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Hilltop by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 31,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 4,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Hilltop by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 18,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares during the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stephens increased their price target on Hilltop from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

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.