Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Stock Moved Up to “Sell” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a report released on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on HTH. Weiss Ratings raised Hilltop from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Hilltop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Hilltop in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hilltop currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.00.

Hilltop Price Performance

Shares of HTH opened at $37.07 on Friday. Hilltop has a 1-year low of $31.75 and a 1-year high of $40.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 0.88.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.20). Hilltop had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 9.08%. The firm had revenue of $309.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $320.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Hilltop will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.67%.

Insider Transactions at Hilltop

In other news, Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.12, for a total value of $802,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 56,096 shares in the company, valued at $2,250,571.52. The trade was a 26.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,455 shares of company stock valued at $1,603,714. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Hilltop by 27.1% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Hilltop by 17.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Hilltop by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Hilltop by 36.6% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Hilltop by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

About Hilltop

Hilltop Holdings Inc (NYSE: HTH) is a Dallas-based financial services holding company. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides commercial and consumer banking, mortgage lending, and securities brokerage and investment-banking services.

PlainsCapital Bank is Hilltop’s banking subsidiary and serves businesses, professionals, and individuals primarily in Texas. Its offerings include commercial and real estate lending, deposit accounts, treasury management, wealth management, and other banking services.

Hilltop also operates PrimeLending, a residential mortgage lender that originates home loans through a network of loan officers and offices across the United States.