UBS Group AG Sells 249,392 Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

UBS Group AG trimmed its position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 38.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 397,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 249,392 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned about 0.65% of Hilltop worth $13,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HTH. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 584.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 42.7% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Hilltop by 392.9% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in Hilltop during the third quarter worth approximately $218,000. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hilltop Stock Performance

HTH opened at $36.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.87. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $28.92 and a one year high of $40.41.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $300.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $304.87 million. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.32% and a net margin of 10.13%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on HTH. Wall Street Zen raised Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Hilltop from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Gerald J. Ford sold 259,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.98, for a total transaction of $9,866,102.58. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,788.66. This represents a 97.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $76,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,656. This represents a 20.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 29.90% of the company’s stock.

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.