KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Sells 1,100 Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lowered its stake in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 10.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Hilltop were worth $282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hilltop by 12.2% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 69,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,106,000 after buying an additional 7,519 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of Hilltop by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Hilltop by 141.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Hilltop during the second quarter worth about $363,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Hilltop by 11.2% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 1,802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HTH. Zacks Research raised Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Hilltop Stock Performance

HTH opened at $31.79 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.64 and a 200-day moving average of $31.24. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 0.87. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.67 and a fifty-two week high of $36.13.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its quarterly 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. Hilltop had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 6.46%. The business had revenue of $303.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 32.29%.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In related news, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 6,640 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.68, for a total transaction of $216,995.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 102,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,365,974.64. This represents a 6.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jonathan S. Sobel acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $35.36 per share, for a total transaction of $353,600.00. Following the purchase, the chairman owned 127,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,505,889.44. This trade represents a 8.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,022,800. 29.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hilltop 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.