Insider Selling: Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Director Sells $380,000.00 in Stock

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $380,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 87,016 shares in the company, valued at $3,306,608. The trade was a 10.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Hilltop Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of HTH opened at $37.31 on Friday. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.92 and a twelve month high of $40.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 0.88.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.10. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 7.32%. The business had revenue of $300.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.87 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTH. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Hilltop by 236.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,044,000 after purchasing an additional 324,108 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in Hilltop by 106.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 493,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,503,000 after purchasing an additional 255,141 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Hilltop during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,337,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 711,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,788,000 after purchasing an additional 194,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,247,000 after purchasing an additional 192,991 shares during the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

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.