Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Short Interest Down 42.9% in August

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,120,000 shares, adropof42.9% from the July 31st total of 1,960,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 450,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently,2.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Currently,2.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 450,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Hilltop Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of HTH opened at $35.28 on Monday. Hilltop has a 52 week low of $26.67 and a 52 week high of $36.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.71.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $303.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.18 million. Hilltop had a return on equity of 6.46% and a net margin of 8.90%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hilltop will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, Chairman Jonathan S. Sobel bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $35.36 per share, for a total transaction of $353,600.00. Following the purchase, the chairman directly owned 127,429 shares in the company, valued at $4,505,889.44. This represents a 8.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,022,800. 29.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 8,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 0.8% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 4.4% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 10,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 18.7% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 2.1% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 24,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

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.