Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Stock Position Lifted by Hodges Capital Management Inc.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 20.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 522,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 89,724 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.80% of Hilltop worth $14,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HTH. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Hilltop in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the third quarter worth $49,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Hilltop by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the third quarter worth $185,000. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on HTH shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.50.

Insider Transactions at Hilltop

In related news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.61, for a total transaction of $1,006,051.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,535,362.28. This trade represents a 28.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,968. This represents a 21.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 29.30% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HTH opened at $30.13 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 1.14. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.67 and a 12-month high of $35.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.75 and a 200-day moving average of $31.16.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.27. Hilltop had a return on equity of 5.18% and a net margin of 7.04%. Equities research analysts expect that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. This is a boost from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 39.08%.

Hilltop Company Profile

Hilltop Holdings Inc provides business and consumer banking services. It operates through three segments: Banking, Broker-Dealer, and Mortgage Origination. The Banking segment offers savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; lines and letters of credit, home improvement and equity loans, loans for purchasing and carrying securities, term, agricultural and commercial real estate, equipment loans, and other lending products; and mortgage, commercial and industrial loans, and term and construction finance.