Insider Selling: Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Director Sells $18,313.75 in Stock

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.25, for a total value of $18,313.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 55,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,239,550.25. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Hilltop Price Performance

Shares of HTH opened at $39.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.62. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.34 and a 1 year high of $40.41.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $315.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.18 million. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 7.40%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 29.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on HTH. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Hilltop from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research raised Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Hilltop in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hilltop in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 584.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 276.4% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the period. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hilltop

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.